UPDATED: Silver Spring area one of state’s hardest hit for COVID-19 cases

New ZIP code data released; Montgomery County has 1,631 confirmed cases

Three of the five ZIP codes with the most COVID-19 cases in Maryland are in the Silver Spring area, according to new data released Sunday morning.

The Maryland Department of Health for the first time shared data showing where coronavirus patients live by ZIP code. Montgomery County has three ZIP codes — all Silver Spring — with the highest case counts: 20904 with 132 cases; 20906 with 126 cases; 20902 with 125 cases.

The number of known cases of COVID-19 in Montgomery County rose to 1,631 cases on Sunday, up from 1,537 as of Saturday.

One week prior, there had been 693 cases.

Statewide, 8,225 people have tested positive, up from 7,694 on Saturday. On Monday, there had been 4,045 confirmed cases in Maryland.

Also as of Sunday, 41,539 have tested negative. Nearly 2,000 people have been hospitalized with the virus.

As of Sunday morning, 235 people had died of the coronavirus disease in Maryland, an increase of 29 from the day prior. Montgomery County has recorded 42 deaths, up from 36 as of Saturday.

The majority of the known cases, 5,699, have been in people younger than 60. The most deaths, 144, have occurred among patients 70 or older.

Mike Ricci, a spokesman for the governor, wrote on Twitter Sunday morning that the state was concerned about releasing case data by ZIP code because “we don’t want anyone who may see a lighter amount of cases in their” area “to think that they don’t have to take this seriously.”

Montgomery County leaders have pushed the state to have a more thorough breakdown of COVID-19 case data to get a better idea of who is most affected, particularly in demographics.

Earlier in the week, state officials began releasing data by race. The data shared Sunday show 2,988 African American people in Maryland have contracted the virus and 91 have died. There have been 2,145 cases among white people and 72 deaths.

The areas in Montgomery County with higher concentrations of COVID-19 cases generally align with areas with higher concentrations of people in poverty. In Silver Spring, about 11% of people are in poverty, according to census data. In Wheaton, with a similar poverty rate, there have been 125 recorded cases.

In Bethesda, where about 3% of people are in poverty, there have been 51 confirmed cases.

A breakdown of other Montgomery County ZIP codes and their case counts from Sunday’s data:

• Germantown (20874) — 69

• Potomac (20854) — 62

• Gaithersburg (20878) — 56

• Gaithersburg (20877) 52

• Rockville (20853) — 52

• Bethesda (20814) — 51

• West Bethesda (20817) — 50

• Chevy Chase (20815) — 50

• Rockville (20850) — 41

• Clarksburg (20871) — 19 cases

More data is available on the state Department of Health website.

Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@bethesdamagazine.com

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To see a timeline of major coronavirus developments in Maryland and Montgomery County, click here.