MoCo May Tighten Coronavirus Restrictions If Data Doesn't Improve

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County officials are wondering whether they should roll back reopening plans to curb the spread of the coronavirus after seeing a plateau, and in some instances an increase, in daily cases.

During a weekly media briefing on Thursday, County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said the uptick in cases — while not as sharp as the Baltimore-Washington region — is giving officials pause as they cautiously plan their next steps.

"I would say right now we are at a point where we have to look at saying, 'Do we need to tighten some things up?'" Gayles said.

Over the last month, the number of daily infections has plateaued in the 70s and 80s, county data shows. Some days, cases hovered around the 140s and 170s.

"The numbers are going up," Gayles said. "So we need to make sure that we remain vigilant, we continue to wear face coverings, (and) we continue to practice the guidelines we've put in place. Once those numbers change, we could have more substantial conversations about reopening provisions and certain practices."

In the meantime, Gayles said county officials will be "reviewing our internal policies to see if there's anything we need to tweak or further adjust in terms of rolling back any provisions to keep our residents safe."

Montgomery County moved into phase two of its recovery plan in mid-June. In this stage, residents can swim in county pools, more people can gather outside, and restaurants and bars can resume indoor dining — given that they follow county and state reopening restrictions.

To advance to phase three, Gayles said the county needs to see daily case numbers drop to the teens or 20s, as well as a steady decline in the test positivity rate, which now sits at 3.66 percent.

The state of neighboring jurisdictions, like hard-hit Prince George's County and Baltimore City, may also impact how and when Montgomery County will move forward, he added.

Like Montgomery County, Maryland will stay in phase two until the data improves.

"The state has seen an increase in numbers — that's it. I mean, there's no sugarcoating it, wordsmithing it, or twisting it around," Gayles said. "We are at a point — the governor talked about it yesterday — being at a fork in the road. Some of us would argue that we've actually already gone down a path that is moving towards seeing increased numbers."