The number of known coronavirus cases in Montgomery County increased to 13,534 Saturday morning – an increase of 1.4% from the previous day.
The Maryland Department of Health reported seven new confirmed deaths from the virus in the county on Saturday morning, bringing the total death toll to 647.
There have been 39 “probable” deaths from the virus. “Probable” deaths have COVID-19 listed as the cause of death on certificates but haven’t been confirmed by laboratory tests.
The county has continued to meet or make significant process on seven of its 10 metrics to determine when the county can begin to reopen and resume certain businesses, entities and activities.
County Executive Marc Elrich has said the county will move into phase 2 of its reopening plan this coming week, but he has not specified which day.
The data dashboard that tracks the county’s progress on the metrics is updated daily at 2 p.m.
As of Friday afternoon, the benchmarks that have been met or have shown significant progress are:
● COVID-19 related hospitalizations: 235 (three-day average); 14 declining days
● Number of COVID-19 related emergency room patients: eight (three-day average); 14 declining days
● COVID-19 related intensive-care unit hospitalizations: 86 (three-day average); 14 declining days
● ICU bed utilization rate: 67% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 80% or less has been met for 14 days
● Percentage of ventilators in use: 51% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 70% or less has been met for 14 days
● Test positivity: 10% (three-day average); 14 declining days
● Number of COVID-19 new deaths each day: five (three-day average); 13 declining days
The benchmarks that haven’t been met are:
● Number of new confirmed positive cases each day: 153 (three-day average); 10 declining days
● Acute care bed utilization rate: 69% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 70% or less has been met for six days
● Tests administered: 1,305 (three-day average); 3.7% testing capacity in the last 30 days (the county’s goal is to test 5% of its population each month)
Across the state, there have been 61,305 known cases and 2,799 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus as of Saturday.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media