Montgomery Sees Smallest Single-Day Increase In Cases Since March

BETHESDA, MD — Montgomery County reported Monday its lowest single-day increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic first hit the region in March.

The county recorded 50 new cases over the last 24 hours, according to Maryland's Health Department, pushing the local total to 13,657. That's an increase of about 0.36 percent since Sunday.

The local death toll climbed by four, for a total of 655. Another 39, health officials believe, likely died from COVID-19 without ever being tested. "Probable deaths" aren't included in the official fatality count until they are confirmed by a laboratory test.

Montgomery County — Maryland's most populous jurisdiction — has 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 17,400, according to the latest figures.

The two hard-hit counties opted out of reopening with the rest of the state last month because the number of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations were not plateauing. They both entered phase one of their respective reopening plans on June 1.

Montgomery County officials say they plan on moving into phase two this week, pending confirmation of public health data benchmarks.

It is not immediately known exactly when phase two will go into effect. But County Executive Marc Elrich and Chief Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles say it will likely begin sometime between June 15 and 19.

Most parts of the state entered phase two of reopening on Friday.

To date, Montgomery County has met six of its nine benchmarks to begin reopening.

To meet them, health officials say the county must see 14 days of fewer cases, deaths, hospitalizations, patients, and tests on a three-day rolling average. The data calculates a three-day rolling average because of potential outliers, like the occasional 24-hour spikes in the aforementioned metrics.

If progress continues to be made, the county will meet eight of its nine benchmarks by mid-week.

So far, the region has reached its 14-day benchmarks for:

• The rate at which ICU beds are being used (goal is less than 80 percent)
• The rate at which ventilators are being used (goal is less than 70 percent)
• The number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations
• The number of coronavirus-related emergency room patients
• The number of coronavirus-related ICU hospitalizations
• The test positivity rate

It has not reached its benchmarks for:

• The number of new coronavirus-related cases
  • Met 12 out of 14 days
• The number of new coronavirus-related deaths
  • Met 13 out of 14 days
• The rate at which acute beds are being used (goal is less than 70 percent)
  • Met 8 out of 14 days

Unlike Montgomery County, most parts of the state reopened last week after Gov. Larry Hogan said he saw a two-week decline in its public health benchmarks.

As of Monday, Maryland has 62,032 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,817 deaths. Another 130, health officials believe, died from the disease without ever getting tested.

A total of 745 are being hospitalized for COVID-19. Of that, 292 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), according to state data.

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• MoCo May Enter Phase 2 This Week; Here's What That Will Look Like