COVID-19 In Maryland: Hospitalizations Dip Below 500 For 1st Time Since November
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Fewer than 500 Marylanders are hospitalized with COVID-19, the fewest patients the state has seen in six months, according to data released Thursday by the Maryland Department of Health.
Hospitalizations fell by 27 over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of COVID-19 patients to 480. That's an 86% decrease compared to last month's peak when nearly 3,500 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
It's the first time since mid-November that hospitalizations have dropped below 500, and this marks the fewest hospitalizations Maryland has seen since Aug. 10 when there were 456 COVID-19 patients.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in ICUs across the state has dropped below the century mark for the first time since Aug. 8.
The seven-day positivity rate for COVID-19 held steady at 2.87%. That's the lowest level it's been in nearly seven months and a 90% drop from Jan. 5 when the positivity rate rose to nearly 30%.
With Maryland's health metrics showing significant improvement in recent weeks, state and local officials have begun rolling back safety measures that were put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.
On Thursday, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced that the city would lift its indoor mask mandate on March 1, though protocols will remain in place for students in Baltimore City Public Schools.
The Maryland State Board of Education voted Tuesday to rescind its mask mandate for public schools, leaving it up to local school districts. The policy change must still be approved by a General Assembly panel.
The state continues to encourage Marylanders to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, even offering a $2 million lottery as an incentive for residents to get booster shots.
Maryland added 661 more COVID-19 cases, bringing the total of confirmed cases statewide to 999,890 since the pandemic began.
The statewide death toll now stands at 13,813, up 14 since Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Maryland emerged from a 30-day state of emergency issued in response to elevated hospitalizations that pushed many hospitals to capacity levels.
Yet healthcare leaders say hospitals still face nursing shortages.
Of Maryland's COVID-19 patients, 374 are adults in acute care and 86 are adults in intensive care. Eleven children are in acute care and four are in the ICU.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 95% of Maryland's adult population has gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 90.1% of Marylanders ages 5 and up have gotten a shot.
There are 4,474,205 Marylanders fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Maryland has administered 11,327,182 million doses of the vaccine.
Of those, 4,701,496 are first doses, 1,907 in the last 24 hours. Another 4,139,733 are second doses, 2,602 in the last day. A total of 334,472 Marylanders have gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 64 in the last day.
The state has administered 2,151,481 boosters, 3,625 over the past 24 hours.
