County Adds 479 New COVID-19 Cases Overnight; Deaths Total 1,037

SILVER SPRING, MD — Montgomery County on Thursday registered 479 new COVID-19 infections overnight, up from 424 on Wednesday, data released by the Maryland Department of Health showed.

For Maryland's most populous jurisdiction, Thursday's addition pushes the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 43,454.

In the past 24 hours, five more people have died from the virus. That brings the local death toll to 1,037.

Another 43 people, health officials believe, had the disease but died before ever getting tested. For now, they are considered "probable deaths" — and won't be added to the official fatality count until they are confirmed by a laboratory test.

The county — which is home to roughly 1 million residents — 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 51,912, according to the latest figures.

Across Maryland, there have been 260,728 cases, 5,462 confirmed deaths, and 165 "probable deaths." Of the 1,760 people currently being hospitalized statewide, 426 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).