COVID-19 In Maryland: More Than 4K New Cases Reported Saturday As Hospitalizations Continue To Decline
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland reported 4,849 new COVID-19 cases as the state positivity rate and hospitalizations continued to decrease, according to data released Saturday by the Maryland Department of Health.
But even as those key metrics fade from peak levels recorded earlier this month, Gov. Larry Hogan and healthcare leaders are warning Marylanders not to let their guards down, with Hogan saying Thursday that "we're not out of the woods."
Hospitalizations fell to 2,633, decreasing by 113 over the past 24 hours and down from a Jan. 11 peak of 3,462 patients. The positivity rate, which flirted with 30% on Jan. 5, has fallen to 16.4%, a 0.74% decrease compared to Friday.
Hogan on Thursday said the next 10 to 14 days will be key to the state's response to surging infections, and he encouraged Marylanders to continue wearing masks and avoiding crowds, as well as getting tested and vaccinated.
"Even though we have been able to attain considerable drops in the metrics, and they're continuing to drop, they're still much higher than they had been or where we need to be," the governor said.
Maryland is in the midst of a 30-day state of emergency Hogan issued this month in response to surging infections and hospitalizations, which pushed several hospitals to near- or at-capacity levels.
Of the Marylanders hospitalized with COVID-19, 2,102 are adults in acute care and 498 are adults in intensive care, while 26 are children in acute care and seven are in the ICU.
With the state reporting an additional 4,849 COVID-19 cases, a total of 931,946 cases have been confirmed in Maryland since the outset of the pandemic.
The state reported 65 more people have died of COVID-19, bringing Maryland's death toll to 12,816.
In recent weeks, the state has ramped up its testing operations in an effort to keep up with public demand. That includes opening 20 new testing sites statewide with support from the Maryland National Guard.
On Thursday, Hogan said a new hospital-based testing site has opened at LifeBridge Health in Carroll County. Another testing site is set to open Friday at GBMC and an additional site will open Saturday at St. Agnes.
There are 4,360,397 Marylanders fully vaccinated and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 94% of the state's adults have gotten at least one dose. Among Marylanders age 5 and older, 88.2% of residents have gotten at least one does of the vaccine.
The state has administered 10,890,425 doses of the vaccine.
Of those, 4,599,124 are first doses, 5,995 in the last 24 hours. Another 4,029,269 are second doses, 4,033 in the past day. A total of 3301,128 Marylanders have gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 224 in the past day.
The state has administered 1,930,904 boosters, 14,366 in the past 24 hours.
