MoCo Adds 130 Cases Oct. 29; Elrich Says Recent Uptick Is A Surge

BETHESDA, MD — Montgomery County has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases since entering phase two in June, leading officials to believe that the rise isn't an anomaly — but a surge.

"We are at levels of virus that, if this had been May or June and we were making decisions about opening, we would not open," County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said during a COVID-19 press briefing Wednesday. "We got below these thresholds before we made decisions to open things up again."

Maryland's most populous jurisdiction entered phase two of its coronavirus shutdown recovery plan in mid-June — around the time it saw its lowest single-day increase in cases since the pandemic hit.

On Thursday, the county recorded 130 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its total to 25,692 infections. That's three times higher than the permissible limit officials set to enter phase three.

Health officials say the county will not move forward until they see low and medium transmission levels — or 10 to 35 cases a day. Over the last three months, daily COVID-19 cases have hovered between 47 and 171.

"There's no doubt that this is not an anomaly anymore," Elrich said.

The county's rate of cases per 100,000 is 12.5. A day ago, it was 12.2 — and a week ago, it was 10.3. Ten is the threshold at which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers a region to be at high risk for coronavirus transmission.

"(Wednesday's) number is troubling because we have seen continued days where we're having multiple days reporting cases over 100," said Dr. Travis Gayles, the county's top health official.

Unlike case rates, the number of people dying daily from COVID-19 in recent months has been between zero and five.

On Thursday, the county recorded two more coronavirus-related deaths, bringing its total to 832 fatalities.

Another 40, health officials say, may have had the virus but died before ever getting tested. For now, they are considered "probable deaths." They won't be added to the official fatality count until they are confirmed by a lab test.

Montgomery County has the second highest number of deaths and cases in the state, after Prince George's County, which has 835 fatalities and 32,800 infections, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 143,387 cases, 3,980 confirmed deaths, and 147 "probable deaths." Of the 502 people that are currently hospitalized, 120 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).