For Immediate Release: Friday, October 23, 2020
Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles today updated the indicators on the COVID-19 Information Portal, that have guided the County since June related to reopening provisions, as health officials evaluate whether the uptick in COVID-19 cases will result in a rollback of Phase 2 reopening provisions. County health officials are closely monitoring these indicators as a result of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in the County, State, and around the country.
“We have been monitoring the uptick in cases to determine whether it was an anomaly, but the increase in cases has been consistent over the last few weeks,” said Dr. Gayles. "These updated indicators will enable the public to see the data we are evaluating as make difficult decisions. Our goal is to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and these indicators will help use monitor the risk of transmission in the County.”
The primary indicators that the County will be analyzing are:
Secondary indicators to be evaluated include:
These indicators will determine whether activities such as social gathering sizes, restrictions on indoor capacity (restaurants, houses of worships, retail, etc.) and activities that are considered high-risk based on contact-tracing data will need to be rolled back in order to reduce the risk of transmission.
“From the beginning of this pandemic, we made it clear that we would rely on science and data to guide our decisions,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “I don’t want to see us have to rollback any of the activities that we have reopened over the last three or four months. Our residents and businesses have worked hard to protect themselves, families, employees and customers. We must remain vigilant and keep wearing masks, making sure that we physically distance, avoid activities where contact risk is high and get tested. If we all do our part, I believe we can keep the risk of greater transmission low.”
The new indicators are available on the County’s website and will be updated daily. For the latest COVID-19 updates, visit the County’s COVID-19 website as well as the County’s data dashboard or follow Montgomery County on Facebook @MontgomeryCountyInfo and Twitter @MontgomeryCountyMD.
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Release ID: 20-626