Montgomery County Adds 450 New COVID-19 Cases Ahead Of Holiday

BETHESDA, MD — Montgomery County on Wednesday registered 450 new COVID-19 infections overnight, up from 291 on Tuesday, data released by the Maryland Department of Health showed.

For Maryland's most populous jurisdiction, Wednesday's addition pushes the total number of cases since March to 45,791.

In the past 24 hours, nine more people have died from the virus. That brings the local death toll to 1,077.

Another 43 people, health officials believe, had the disease but died before ever getting tested. For now, they are considered "probable deaths" — and won't be added to the official fatality count until they are confirmed by a laboratory test.

The 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 54,127, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 273,689 coronavirus cases, 5,681 confirmed deaths, and 167 "probable deaths." Of the 1,756 patients being hospitalized for the disease statewide, 410 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).