Montgomery County added 208 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday to bring its total to 9,260, an increase of 2%.
The county also added 17 confirmed deaths on Thursday, bringing its total to 491. There were also 37 “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.
On Thursday morning, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that 17 COVID-19 drive-thru testing sites were being added across the state at CVS Pharmacies. Three are in Montgomery County:
• 7809 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda
• 799 Rockville Pike in Rockville
• 12215 Darnestown Road in Gaithersburg
Patients must register at CVS.com, starting Friday, to schedule an appointment. They will stay in their vehicles and be directed to the pharmacy drive-thru window to get a test kit and instructions.
On Wednesday, Montgomery County officials began releasing data on metrics such as new cases, deaths, hospitalizations and ventilator usage. Officials will look at trends in three-day averages and whether numbers have declined consistently during a 14-day period to determine how soon the county can reopen.
County Executive Marc Elrich said on Wednesday that a partial reopening could happen in the next week or so.
Hospitalizations have declined consistently in the county, going from a high of 490 on May 7 to 374 as of Tuesday.
The number of intensive care patients and hospital room visits for patients with COVID-19 related symptoms has also declined consistently during that period, according to charts from the county.
The state had 43,531 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, an increase of about 3%, from Wednesday’s total, according to the Maryland Department of Health.
The state’s confirmed death toll rose to 2,045 and there have been 114 probable deaths.
As of Thursday, there were 1,374 coronavirus patients hospitalized across the state, including 848 in acute care and 526 in intensive care.
The number of hospitalizations in the state has been dropping over the last three weeks.
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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.
