COVID-19 Cases In MoCo Rise By 291​, Test Positivity Rate Climbs

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County reported 291 new cases and seven new deaths tied to COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

For Maryland's most populous jurisdiction, that brings the total number of infections and deaths during the pandemic to 45,341 and 1,068, respectively.

The latest fatality count does not include the 43 others whose deaths were linked to the virus but never confirmed by a lab test. For now, they are considered "probable deaths."

Montgomery County, which is home to roughly 1 million people, 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 53,692, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 271,061 cases, 5,636 confirmed deaths, and 167 "probable deaths." Of the 1,725 people being hospitalized statewide, 420 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Maryland's seven-day test positivity rate, which measures the percentage of coronavirus tests that come back positive over a week, ticked up to 8.1 percent on Tuesday. That's a 0.68 percent increase from the previous day, according to official public health data.

In Montgomery County, the test positivity rate is 7.24 percent — a 0.38 percent increase from Monday.

Here's a closer look at the seven-day test positivity rates in Maryland and Montgomery County: