Today Montgomery County officials provided an update on the impact of the Coronavirus in the county. On Saturday and Sunday, 107 and 101 new cases were reported. This brings the total to 2,239 in the county. The county won’t have the data specific to the municipalities until tomorrow.

The number of deaths in the county rose to 91. On Saturday nine were reported and Sunday 14 were reported. Approximately 40% of the overall deaths in the county were at long-term care facilities.

Approximately 20% of the positive cases in the county are tied to long-term care facilities (306 residents and 166 staff members at long term facilities have tested positive).

As of April 9th, 4,844 people were tested at the testing site at Temple University’s Ambler campus. With 90% of the results back, 16.8% tested positive.

According to County Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh, it appears the Coronavirus has peaked with the population that came through the testing center. One day last week the percentage of positive test results was 24% and it went down from there. Arkoosh stressed that this does not mean it has peaked for other populations, nor for hospitals or deaths. In regards to hospitals, this is due to people who have tested positive but not yet needed treatment at a hospital. All nine hospitals in Montgomery County have empty beds, including ICU beds.

Arkoosh was asked her thoughts on what is needed to safely reopen businesses. She believes rapid testing (a test that provides a result while you wait) and improved contact tracing (ability to quickly alert those who had contact with someone with a positive test result) are two of the things needed. She also believes that some businesses might not be able to open as quickly as others and that people might need to give up some privacy to allow for mobile phone tracking.

You can view today’s press conference below: