Montgomery County released a 125-page report on the toll COVID-19 took, including information and statistics on hospitalizations, deaths, vaccinations and rates among age groups, people of color and those living in poverty.
Hispanics, non-Hispanic Blacks, the elderly and males were hit hardest by the pandemic, according to the report that was prepared by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Services and Office of Health Planning and Epidemiology.
The coronavirus crept into the county with the first three cases reported on March 5, 2020. Two years later, there were 161,673 confirmed cases, 8,088 confirmed COVID-19 hospitalization admissions and 1,949 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, according to the report.
The most cases occurred between December 2021 and January 2022.
During 2020, county residents reported 48,055 cases, with one-quarter of those happening in December. During 2021, there were 73,019 cases reported among Montgomery County residents, with almost half occurring in December of 2021.
So far this year, there have been 40,559 cases reported in the county.
“Overall the highest cumulative case rates were among the following subgroups: female residents aged 20 to 34, non-Hispanic Black residents aged 20 to 24 and Hispanic residents aged 20 to 64 years,” according to the report.
Almost two million vaccine doses have been administered in the County.
During the past two years of coronavirus, 20% of the cases were reported among assisted living facilities; 18% took place in group homes; 17.6% in nursing homes and 15.5% in childcare facilities, according to the report. Not quite 10% of the cases were reported in schools.
Besides sickness and death, COVID-19 impacted many other areas, including burnout among health care workers, job loss and the effects of remote learning and isolation according to the report.
