Montgomery County adds 95 new active cases, confirms 50th COVID-19-related death July 22

The Montgomery County Public Health District recorded its 50th coronavirus-related death July 22: A woman in her 70s from Montgomery died in the hospital. She had comorbidities in addition to testing positive for COVID-19, according to a daily case count released by the district.

Total cases increased by 125 from July 21 to 5,294 on July 22. Following the initial spike in the daily new cases July 15 as a result of MCPHD changing its case reporting methods in response to a case information backlog, the seven-day new case average has been declining in the last three days.

Active cases increased by 95 to 2,502, including 54 residents that are known to be in the hospital as a result of contact investigations. Contact investigations have not been initiated on all reported cases. Of the active cases, 909 have an unconfirmed status.

An additional 105 cases have an unknown status, and 2,637 people have clinically recovered.

In Montgomery County hospitals, there are 181 total COVID-19 patients, a decrease of 45 since July 21, with 41 in ICU beds and 140 in general beds.

The Montgomery County Public Health District also announced a change to the Montgomery County COVID-19 call center July 21. In a statement, the department said staff from the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management will now staff the hotline, and Montgomery County Hospital District workers will shift to conducting contact investigations.

The call center, which is open for general questions about the coronavirus, information on local testing sites or registration for the county's free testing voucher program, can now be reached at 936-523-3916 on weekdays from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Voucher registration is also available online.