Montgomery County Meets Statewide Coronavirus Testing Goal

BETHESDA, MD — Montgomery County on Thursday became the 12th jurisdiction in Maryland to meet the statewide goal of testing 10 percent of its population.

Reaching that goal puts Montgomery County — a jurisdiction hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic — one step further on its path to phase three.

How long it will take to get there, however, remains unclear.

County Executive Marc Elrich said he wouldn't announce a date for phase three until he was sure there weren't any surges tied to Independence Day celebrations. The Democrat also said he needed to see more improvements in the county's public health benchmarks (which can be found below).

As of Thursday, the county has reported 15,503 coronavirus cases. That's an increase of 103 cases overnight.

The local death toll climbed by two, for a total of 716, according to health officials. Health officials are also reporting 38 "probable deaths" in the county, meaning the death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death, but a laboratory test is still needed to confirm it.

Statewide, there have been 71,447 cases, 3,160 confirmed deaths, and 128 "probable deaths."

Of the 406 people currently being hospitalized for the virus, 139 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).