Montgomery County Surpasses 1,000 COVID-Related Deaths

Montgomery County COVID-19 Statistics

The Maryland Department of Health reported 247 new COVID-19 cases in Montgomery County Thursday morning. The county’s cumulative case count is 40,747.

Montgomery County recorded 14 new coronavirus-related fatalities Thursday, bringing the death toll to 1,009. This is the most fatalities reported in 24 hours since May 19 when 23 fatalities were reported.

The county has a rate of 6.53% for positive COVID-19 tests, which is an increase of 0.21 from Wednesday’s rate of 6.32%. The county’s positivity rate is lower than in 16 of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions.

Montgomery County leads the state in total COVID-19 related fatalities; Prince George’s County has the second-highest number with 984 fatalities and the most coronavirus cases in the state with 49,068 cases.

 

County and state health officials are monitoring the surge in COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospital bed utilization closely.

Gov. Larry Hogan will provide a COVID-19 update Thursday at 5 p.m. The address will be streamed live on TwitterFacebook, and YouTube. Earlier this week Hogan announced that every Maryland hospital will receive COVID-19 vaccine doses over the next two weeks.  Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center and Adventist Health Care White Oak Medical Center are expected to receive 975 doses each this week. MedStar Health, which includes Montgomery Medical Center in Olney, is also preparing to receive doses this week and has purchased several ultra-cold freezers to store them.

The Montgomery County Council approved new COVID-19 restrictions which went into effect Tuesday at 5 p.m. The restrictions include a ban on indoor dining at restaurants and further capacity limitations at retail locations and indoor sports.  During Tuesday’s Council meeting, County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles told the Council that hospitals are reaching capacity for ICU and acute care beds.

The Montgomery County Board of Education met Tuesday and they unanimously agreed the earliest students will return to the classroom is Feb. 1 and that only will occur if the county’s COVID-19 positivity rate is 5% or below and there are fewer than 15 new cases daily for every 100,000 residents. Wednesday’s positivity rate, reported by the state, is 6.32% and has not been below 5% since Nov. 30.

Maryland COVID-19 Statistics

Thursday the state recorded 2,217 new infections. This is the 44th consecutive day the state recorded more than a thousand new cases. The new cases bring the state’s cumulative case count to 243,984.

On Thursday, the state reported 1,702 patients were hospitalized across the state with the virus. This is the second consecutive day the number of hospitalizations decreased.

Thursday the state recorded 49 newly reported deaths, bringing the state death toll to 5,152

The state reported a rate of 7.73% for positive COVID-19 tests Thursday. This is an increase of 0.24 from Wednesday’s rate of 7.49%.

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