County Adds 97 Coronavirus Cases; Test Positivity Rate Drops

ROCKVILLE, MD — The Maryland Health Department on Friday reported three more coronavirus deaths and 97 new cases in Montgomery County, bringing the local death toll to 728 and the total number of cases to 16,153.

Another 38, health officials believe, had COVID-19 but died before ever getting 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 20,302, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 76,371 confirmed cases, 3,227 confirmed deaths, and 132 "probable deaths."

Of 434 people that are currently hospitalized, 128 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

On Friday, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that the state hit a new testing milestone.

"Maryland continues making significant progress to expand testing statewide: a new record of 24,171 tests were reported in the past 24 hours," the Republican governor tweeted.

Statewide, 896,990 coronavirus tests have been conducted to date.

The seven-day average positivity rate for tests has dropped to 4.43 percent — down nearly 84 percent from its peak on April 17, according to state data.

In Montgomery County, it's 3.75 percent. A day earlier, the test positivity rate in the county was 3.94 percent.