Maryland among states with fewest COVID-19 deaths since start of pandemic, study shows

BALTIMORE - It has been more than three years since COVID-19 paused the world.

A new study published in the Lancet shows that since the onset of the pandemic, Maryland is among the states with the fewest COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents.

As of March 26, 2023, Maryland has had 16,333 COVID deaths since March 2020, for 285 deaths per 100,000 population. 

The only states that saw fewer deaths are Hawaii (147 per 100k), New Hampshire (215 per 100k), Maine (218 per 100k) and Vermont (285 per 100k).

Chuck Callahan, Vice President of Population Health at the University of Maryland, said the biggest factors are that residents were dedicated to keeping others safe, plus the response by federal and local leaders.

"I would say that we have a population of residents that were willing to throw in from the very beginning and do whatever it took," Callahan said. "The Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital had upwards of 3,000 people who wanted to come and help do the right thing, to take care of other Marylanders. I think, across the state, people were willing to do what it takes to keep people safe."

March 23 was the three-year anniversary of the beginning of the Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital, which was a partnership between the University of Maryland Medical System, Johns Hopkins Medicine and the state of Maryland.