COVID-19 In Maryland: Hospitalizations Decline As Positivity Rate Rises
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — COVID-19 hospitalizations in Maryland continue to fall, with the number of patients now at 548, according to data released Sunday by the Maryland Department of Health.
Hospitalizations fell by 10 patients over the past 24 hours. During a surge in cases from the Omicron variant last month, the number peaked 3,462 patients.
Of those currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maryland, 434 are adults in acute care and 106 are adults in intensive care. Six children are in acute care and two are in the ICU.
The positivity rate rose by 0.26% to 3.41%, but still down from last month's high when the positivity rate was just shy of the 30% mark.
As Maryland's key health metrics continue to show signs of improvement, state and local officials have begun rolling back safety measures that were put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that masks will no longer be required inside state buildings beginning next week. Mask requirements are also being dropped for government buildings in Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties.
Additionally, Hogan also calling for education officials to lift the state's school mask mandate, a policy change the state Board of Education said it will evaluate at next week's meeting.
On Wednesday night, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education voted 8–0 to remove the mask mandate from its public schools.
Maryland added 1,089 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours. On Wednesday, the state added 24,800 reinfections dating back to September to the tally. The total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began now stands at 998,136.
A total of 13,741 Marylanders have died since the start of the pandemic, following an increase of fourteen deaths according to the state's last reports on Friday.
Earlier this month, Maryland emerged from a 30-day state of emergency issued by Hogan in response to a COVID-19 surge that pushed hospitals to capacity levels. Yet healthcare leaders say hospitals still face nursing shortages.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 95% of Maryland's adult population has gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. When including residents between the ages of 5 and 17, 89.9% of the populations has gotten at least one shot.
Due to the upcoming federal holiday, the state has not released updated vaccine numbers but plan on continue to resume Tuesday, February 22, 2022.
State officials are still encouraging Marylanders to get boosted, even rolling out a $2 million lottery as an incentive for people to get their boosters.
