144 New COVID-19 Cases Reported In Montgomery County Thursday

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — There were 144 new cases of COVID-19 in Montgomery County reported on Thursday, marking more than a week that the county has had substantial transmission.

Substantial transmission is 50 to 99 cases per week per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. Montgomery County's population of 1.05 million means about 75 cases per day for a seven-day period or 525 cases in a week will keep the county in the designation of substantial transmission.

However, only 2.3 percent of hospital beds that are in use in the county are filled by COVID-19 patients.

Here are the reported case counts for the last 10 days:

• Wednesday, Aug. 4 - 98
• Thursday, Aug. 5 - 115 cases
• Friday, Aug. 6 - 118 cases
• Saturday, Aug. 7 - 111 cases
• Sunday, Aug. 8 - 146 cases
• Monday, Aug. 9 - 87 cases
• Tuesday, Aug. 10 - 120
• Wednesday, Aug. 11 - 130
• Thursday, Aug. 12 - 144 cases

Montgomery County reinstated an indoor mask mandate last Saturday — regardless of vaccination status — to combat rising case counts.

"I'm sorry we're back here again," said Councilmember Nancy Navarro at the time. "I know that this is extraordinarily frustrating for everyone who has stepped up and done what they had to do."

About 63 percent of Montgomery County residents are vaccinated, compared to 50 percent of people nationwide. The county has called on those who are still unvaccinated to reconsider, and said they need to protect people who are not eligible for the vaccine yet.

"While we have a high rate of vaccination in the community, health officials have determined that this variant is very easy to spread and we want to be sure that those in the community who aren't eligible to be vaccinated, such as children under the age of 12, are protected," said County Executive Marc Elrich in a statement when he proposed the mandate to the County Council. "No one wants to go back to wearing masks but in the absence of a 100 percent vaccination rate in the community, masking is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of the virus and protect the health of our community."