Montgomery County’s health officials are concerned about another possible surge in coronavirus cases following the holiday weekend.

Dr. Travis Gayles, Montgomery County’s health officer, said he hopes people are getting tested and taking precautions after the region’s airports reported record levels of pandemic travel.

“Particularly given the higher levels of community transmission we’re experiencing right now…We are concerned and on alert to continue to follow how those numbers bear out, Gayles said at a Tuesday press conference.

The county reported a more than 12% increase in new cases per 100,000 people on Tuesday. The state of Maryland also saw an uptick this week following the Christmas holiday with 1750 new cases and 31 deaths, according to state health department data.

Dr. Earl Stoddard, director of the county’s office of emergency and homeland security management, said if hospitals see a surge “there is space [for patients], but you can’t keep adding on more and more and expecting that to hold up.”

Currently, about 79% of county hospital beds are in use with more than 22% occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to county health data.

But Stoddard said the restrictions on restaurants, businesses, and large gatherings prior to the holidays could offset a potential uptick in cases, as they may have done after the Thanksgiving holiday.

“I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but it does give some credence to the possibility that the actions that have been taken in Montgomery County and neighboring jurisdictions may help reduce some of the surge we’re going to see,” Stoddard said.

Stoddard added that he expects to see some irregularities in testing numbers over the next week. There could be high numbers of testing before and after the New Year’s holiday, and low testing during the holiday itself.

At Tuesday’s press conference, County Executive Marc Elrich encouraged residents to continue social distancing and not hold holiday parties.

“I got to say this is really hard,” Elrich said. “But it’s also really important….so please be safe and be careful over the next couple of days.”