Montgomery COVID-19 Metrics Continue to Flag New Cases, Emergency Room Visits

Thursday afternoon Montgomery County provided an update to the public health metrics being used to guide the reopening timeline on the COVID-19 Dashboard Thursday. Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the county, there have been 15,503 cases and 716 deaths.  Wednesday, County Executive Marc Elrich side the county would not be moving into Phase 3 of reopening at this time.

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

The data posted Thursday afternoon were:

• Number of new confirmed positive cases each day: 113 (three-day average); 6 declining days of the last 14.
• Number of new COVID-19 related deaths each day: zeo (three-day average); 13 declining days of the last 14.
• COVID-19 related hospitalizations: 101 (three-day average); 14 declining days.
• Number of COVID-19 related emergency room patients: seven (three-day average); 8 declining days.
• COVID-19 related intensive-care unit hospitalizations: 35 (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: 51% (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.

Montgomery County COVID-19 Dashboard as of Thursday, July 9 (click on photo to enlarge):

Montgomery County COVID-19 Dashboard as of Wednesday, July 8 (click on photo to enlarge):

Seven of the nine metrics reported Thursday, which is day 20 of Phase 2, are showing improvement or adequate capacity. However, the number of new confirmed cases and emergency room visits do not show progress or adequate capacity on the County’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Montgomery County progress report for July 9 (click on photo to enlarge):

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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