County Reports 16 New COVID-19 Cases; Over 50% Fully Vaccinated

SILVER SPRING, MD — Health officials in Montgomery County added 16 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, pushing its pandemic total to 70,728.

No new coronavirus-related deaths were added overnight, official data showed. The local death toll remains at 1,497.

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 84,838, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 458,680 cases, 8,838 confirmed deaths, and 191 "probable deaths." Of the 442 people currently being hospitalized statewide, 118 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 1.98 percent. In Montgomery County, it's 0.92 percent — down from 1.12 percent the day before.

To date, Maryland has administered 5,936,293 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Among those, 3,146,333 were first doses and 2,561,871 were second doses.

In Montgomery County, 645,057 residents (61.4 percent) have received their first dose. A total of 531,765 residents (50.6 percent) have already gotten their second and final shot.