Montgomery County COVID-19 Update Shows Slight Increases in Cases, Emergency Room Visits

Thursday afternoon, Montgomery County released an update to the public health metrics being used to guide the reopening timeline. The county entered Phase 2 of the economic reopening on Friday, June 19 after spending 19 days in Phase 1. County Executive Marc Elrich said during a media briefing Wednesday that the county will wait to see if the Fourth of July causes a spike in COVID-19 cases before any Phase 3 reopening announcement is made.

The county is tracking three categories of information including the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, hospital capacity, and testing capabilities.

Seven of the nine metrics reported Thursday, which is day 13 of Phase 2, are showing improvement or adequate capacity. The number of new confirmed cases and COVID-19 related emergency room visits are flagged as a day of “deficient progress or inadequate capacity” in the county’s report.

Montgomery County progress report for July 2 (click on photo to enlarge):

Montgomery County COVID-19 Dashboard as of July 2 (click on photo to enlarge):

Montgomery County COVID-19 Dashboard as of July 1 (click on photo to enlarge):

The data posted Thursday afternoon were:

• Number of new confirmed positive cases each day: 75 (three-day average); 12 declining days of the last 14.
• Number of new COVID-19 related deaths each day: two (three-day average); 14 declining days of the last 14.
• COVID-19 related hospitalizations: 125 (three-day average); 14 declining days.
• Number of COVID-19 related emergency room patients: four(three-day average); 9 declining days.
• COVID-19 related intensive-care unit hospitalizations: 42 (three-day average); 14 declining days.
• Acute care bed utilization rate: 67% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 70% or less has been met 14 of the last 14 days.
• Intensive Care Unit bed utilization rate: 58% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 80% or less has been met 14 out of the last 14 days.
• Percentage of ventilators in use: 30% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 70% or less has been met 14 out of the last 14 days.
• Test positivity rate: 5% (three-day average); 14 declining days.

The county also set goals for testing capacity, contact tracing, and prioritizing equity. More details on each of these goals are available on the county’s website, here.

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