County COVID-19 Cases Eclipse 70K, Positivity Rate Rises Slightly

ROCKVILLE, MD — Known coronavirus infections in Montgomery County have eclipsed 70,000, state data shows, after health officials added 42 new cases on Tuesday.

The latest addition pushes the county's total number of cases since the pandemic began to 70,006.

No new COVID-19-related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. The local death toll remains at 1,477.

The latest fatality count does not include the 46 others whose deaths were linked to the virus but never confirmed by a lab test. For now, they are considered "probable deaths."

Montgomery County — which is home to roughly 1 million people — continues to have the highest number of deaths in the state. It also has the second-highest number of confirmed cases, after Prince George's County, which has 83,410, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 450,010 cases, 8,612 confirmed deaths, and 191 "probable deaths." Of the 944 people currently being hospitalized statewide, 246 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The positivity rate measures the percentage of COVID-19 tests that come back positive in a one-week span. According to data released Tuesday, Maryland's test positivity rate is 3.82 percent. In Montgomery County, it's 2.15 percent — up from 2.02 percent the day before.

To date, Maryland has administered 4,938,901 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Among those, 2,790,664 were first doses and 1,956,240 were second doses.

In Montgomery County, 566,796 residents (53.9 percent) have received their first dose. A total of 401,121 residents (38.2 percent) have already gotten their second and final shot.