Seven of Ten Montgomery County COVID-19 Criteria Met

County officials developed criteria and conditions to consider regarding reopening of businesses, public amenities and relaxing of restrictions. The county’s goals include a decrease in new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations; as well as an increase in the capacity of both county hospitals and COVID-19 testing. The county’s interactive COVID-19 dashboard reports ten metrics daily and indicates the progress of meeting each criterion.

The ten metrics all fall into one of three categories including hospital capacity, COVID-19 surveillance, and testing. As of Friday. it appears seven criteria are met. However, the following three criteria have not been met: the number of new cases, the hospital acute care beds utilization, and increased testing capacity.

The county’s methodology for each of the ten criteria is based on a three-day rolling average and the number of days out of the last 14 days there was progress to the goal. For instance, the goal to keep the utilization of acute care beds under 70% is measured by the percentage of all acute care beds in use. The county is monitoring the days of adequate capacity of acute care beds. A day of adequate capacity occurs when the three-day rolling average meets or exceeds the goal. Find detailed information on each criterion on the county’s COVID-19 website.

Montgomery County COVID-19 Dashboard as of June 5 (click on photo to enlarge):

Montgomery County COVID-19 Dashboard as of June 4 (click on photo to enlarge):

The data posted Friday afternoon were:

• Number of new confirmed positive cases each day: 234 (three-day average); seven declining days out of the last 14
• Number of COVID-19 new deaths each day: seven (three-day average); 13 declining days
• COVID-19 related hospitalizations: 282 (three-day average); 14 declining days
• Number of COVID-19 related emergency room patients: 8 (three-day average); 14 declining days
• COVID-19 related intensive-care unit hospitalizations: 110 (three-day average); 14 declining days
• Acute care bed utilization rate: 71% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 70% or less has been met two of the last 14 days
• Intensive Care Unit bed utilization date: 71% (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: 55% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 70% or less has been met 14 out of the last 14 days
• Test positivity rate: 10% (three-day average); 14 declining days

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

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