The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Montgomery County has risen each day by 5% or less since May 2.
Additionally, there has been only one day since April 16 when the number of cases increased by a double-digit percentage. Before April 11, the daily percentage increase was consistently in double digits.
The number of cases in the county increased to 7,548 on Thursday, up 3.6% from the previous day. The county also added nine confirmed deaths, to bring the death toll to 397.
There were also 40 “probable” deaths in Montgomery County as of Thursday, meaning COVID-19 was designated as the cause on a death certificate, but the result has not been confirmed by laboratory tests.
Montgomery County has the second most cases in the state, next to Prince George’s County, which has 10,449. Montgomery County has more deaths.
On Wednesday, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that the state would begin the first phase of its reopening on Friday, which includes the reopening of essential businesses. But Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has said that his county is not yet ready to open.
The state had 35,903 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, an increase of 3% from Wednesday’s total, according to the Maryland Department of Health.
The state’s confirmed death toll rose to 1,748 on Thursday and there have been 118 probable deaths.
There were 1,538 patients hospitalized from the virus on Thursday, which included 969 in acute care and 569 in intensive care.
The age groups with the most number of cases are those between 30 and 59, according to the Department of Health. The most people who have died from the virus have been older than 80.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
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For other Bethesda Beat coverage of the coronavirus, click here.
To see a timeline of major coronavirus developments in Maryland and Montgomery County, click here.
