COVID-19 In Maryland: Hospitalizations Dip Below 1,700, Positivity Rate Below 9%
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland's COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen below 1,700 and the statewide positivity rate has dipped below 9%, according to data released Tuesday by the Maryland Department of Health.
Yet even as Gov. Larry Hogan has pointed to those improving metrics as a signal that Maryland is emerging from a wave of Omicron-driven infections, health care leaders say hospitals are still struggling with a nursing shortage.
Maryland added 1,500 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases statewide to 956,780 since the pandemic began.
With hospitalizations falling by 38, the number of COVID-19 patients in Maryland hospitals stands at 1,678. The statewide positivity rate has fallen to 8.66%, a 0.38% decrease since Monday.
The statewide death toll by 49 over the past 24 hours, meaning the tally now stands at 13,276 since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maryland is 28 days into a 30-day state of emergency issued by the governor in response to elevated hospitalizations and infections that forced many hospitals across the state to pivot to crisis standards of care.
Over the past few weeks, Hogan also issued executive orders aimed to shoring up workforces in nursing homes, hospitals and emergency medical services.
Despite these efforts, the Maryland Hospital Association on Tuesday said that hospitals continue to struggle with staffing issues. That includes 3,900 nursing vacancies, a 50% increase since late August.
Bob Atlas, the organization's president and chief executive officer, said the MHA is appreciative of Gov. Hogan's efforts to address staffing shortages but he noted that more needs to be done.
"Unfortunately, the Governor's legislation and other proposed bills to address hospitals' workforce challenges will not become law before the 30-day public health emergency runs out this Friday," Atlas said.
While Maryland's workforce shortages predated the pandemic, Atlas said, he said the difference with the health care industry is the life-saving work involved.
"Our hospitals are unique in that they must be ready to perform life-saving services 24/7/365 no matter what," he said. "We need legislative solutions, partnerships, and innovation to ensure we have the caregivers to meet all our communities' needs."
Of those currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maryland, 1,346 are adults in acute care and 312 are adults in intensive care. Fourteen children are in acute care and six more are in the ICU, state data show.
There are 4,392,690 Marylanders fully vaccinated and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 94.6% of the state's adults have gotten at least one dose. When you factor in children age 5 and older, 89% of the population has gotten at least one dose of the vaccine.
The state has administered more than 11 million doses of the vaccine.
Of those, 4,635,356 are first doses, 3,032 in the last 24 hours. Another 4,060,465 are second doses, 3,229 in the past day. A total of 332,225 Marylanders have gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 69 in the past day.
The state has administered 2,027,773 boosters, 7,211 in the past 24 hours.