Montgomery County Meets Six Of Nine Reopening Benchmarks

SILVER SPRING, MD — Montgomery County has met six of its nine benchmarks to begin reopening — about three months after the region recorded its first coronavirus cases — according to data released Wednesday.

The county, which is home to roughly 1.1 million residents, 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

To meet these benchmarks, 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.

To date, the county has 11,924 confirmed coronavirus cases and 593 deaths, according to the Maryland Department of Health. Another 40, health officials believe, may have had COVID-19, but died without ever getting tested.

The region 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 15,738.

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.

In Montgomery County, phase one meant restaurants could reopen for outdoor dining, barbershops and hair salons could serve customers by appointment only, and outdoor day camps could resume in groups no more than 10.

Most parts of the state reopened on May 15, after Gov. Larry Hogan said he saw a 14-day decline in cases and hospitalizations.

As of Wednesday, Maryland has 54,982 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,519 deaths. Another 122 likely died from the disease and never got tested, according to state data.

There are 1,109 coronavirus patients currently hospitalized in Maryland. Of that, 471 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).