MoCo Surpasses 200 New COVID Cases For The First Time Since June

BETHESDA, MD — For the first time since early June, the number of new daily COVID-19 cases in Montgomery County on Thursday surpassed 200.

The latest addition, according to the Maryland Department of Health, pushes the countywide total to infection to 26,777 infections.

It comes a day after County Executive Marc Elrich (D) proposed limiting the size of public gatherings, curtailing late-night alcohol sales at restaurants and bars, and reducing capacity at food service establishments, houses of worships, and other businesses.

The restrictions, if approved by the County Council, would take effect on Friday at 5 p.m.

"We are hoping that these first-line measures are things that will be able to arrest the increase in trends that we've noticed in terms of new cases," said County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles, "(and) that will hopefully prevent us from taking further steps to curb the pandemic."

For the last 15 days, the county has recorded more than 100 daily new COVID-19 cases. The last time the county topped 200 positive infections in a single day was on June 5.

On Thursday, the county added four more deaths, bringing its fatality count to 841.

Forty-one others, 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 death toll until they are confirmed by a lab test.

Across Maryland, there have been 149,964 cases, 4,035 confirmed deaths, and 147 "probable deaths." Of the 588 people that are currently hospitalized, 157 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).