MoCo Tops 400 New Cases As Officials Reinstate Restrictions

BETHESDA, MD — Montgomery County's daily COVID-19 case count surpassed 400 for the 12th time this month as the jurisdiction clamped down again on restaurants, retail shops, and gatherings.

The county recorded 438 new infections on Wednesday, according to the Maryland Department of Health, pushing the local total since March to 40,500 cases. This month alone, the county saw its greatest one-day increase in COVID-19 infections. Health officials recorded 631 new cases on Dec. 4, breaking a record set in the spring.

In an effort to clamp down on community spread, the county has reinstated tighter coronavirus.

An executive order that temporarily suspended indoor dining and cut capacity at retail establishments went into effect at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Indoor gatherings for non-professional sports and religious institutions were also restricted.

In the last 24 hours, five more people have died from COVID-19. The county's death toll now stands at 995.

Forty-four 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 fatality count until they are confirmed by a lab test.

Montgomery County — which is home to roughly 1 million residents — continues to have the highest number of deaths in the state. It also has the second-highest number of confirmed cases, after Prince George's County, which has 48,718, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 241,767 coronavirus cases, 5,103 confirmed deaths, and 167" probable deaths." Of the 1,762 patients being hospitalized for the disease statewide, 399 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).