Montgomery Co. Sees Smallest One-Day Rise In Cases Since Oct. 19

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County has recorded its smallest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases since October, according to data released Tuesday by the Maryland Department of Health.

In the past 24 hours, the county reported 85 new coronavirus cases, pushing its total since March 2020 to 64,166. The caseload hasn't been that low since Oct. 19, when 71 infections were recorded.

Daily cases continue to trend downward since reaching their peak of 639 on Jan. 10. In the last three weeks, they've dipped into the double digits a total of seven times — on Feb. 16, Feb. 22, March 3, March 5, and March 7 through 9.

According to the state's health department, four more Montgomery County residents have died from the virus overnight. The local death toll now sits at 1,385.

Health officials believe that another 45 people had the virus, but died before ever getting tested. 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 74,571, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 388,666 cases, 7,806 confirmed deaths, and 182 "probable deaths." Of the 792 people currently being hospitalized statewide, 215 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

As of Tuesday, Maryland has administered 1,616,567 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Among those, 1,043,950 were first doses and 572,617 were second doses.

In Montgomery County, 194,241 residents (18.5 percent) have received their first dose. A total of 97,048 residents (9.2 percent) have already gotten their second and final shot.