County Sees Triple-Digit Rise In Cases For Seven Straight Days

SILVER SPRING, MD — For the seventh day in a row, Montgomery County has seen a triple-digit rise in COVID-19 cases, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

On Tuesday, the county recorded 157 new infections, pushing the local total to 25,438 cases. That's more than four times the permissible limit county health officials set to move on to phase three.

The county, which is currently in phase two of its pandemic recovery plan, has typically reopened at a slower rate than the rest of the state due to higher COVID-19 numbers. Health officials say the county will not enter phase three until they see low and medium transmission levels — or 10 to 35 cases a day. Over the last three months, daily COVID-19 cases have hovered between 47 and 171.

On Tuesday, the county recorded two more coronavirus-related deaths, bringing its total to 829 fatalities.

Health officials suspect another 40 people had the disease but died before ever getting tested. For now, they are considered "probable deaths." They won't be added to the official fatality count until they are confirmed by a lab test.

Montgomery County has the second highest number of deaths and cases in the state, after Prince George's County, which has 830 fatalities and 32,499 infections, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 141,741 cases, 3,962 confirmed deaths, and 146 "probable deaths." Of the 471 people that are currently hospitalized, 105 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).