COVID-19 In Maryland: Roughly 1,700 Hospitalized As Positivity Rate Dips To 9%
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Slightly more than 1,700 Marylanders are hospitalized with COVID-19 and the statewide positivity rate has dipped to roughly 9%, according to data released Monday by the Maryland Department of Health.
The improving COVID-19 metrics represent the latest sign that Maryland is gradually overcoming a surge in both infections and hospitalizations that led Gov. Larry Hogan to declare a 30-day state of emergency earlier this month.
Gov. Larry Hogan released a statement Monday saying the positivity rate has dropped 70% since peaking earlier this month.
"For the second straight day, our positivity rate is in single digits, another sign of the encouraging progress we are making," he said. "While we are emerging from the Omicron wave faster than just about any state, we continue to urge Marylanders to take precautions, and most importantly, get a booster shot."
Since peaking in January at 3,462 patients, the number of hospitalizations has been cut in half, he said.
Maryland reached a significant milestone on Saturday, surpassing 2 million booster doses administered.
Hospitalizations increased by 22 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of Marylanders hospitalized with COVID-19 to 1,716. Of those, 1,381 are adults in acute care and 315 are adults in intensive care, while 13 children are in acute care and seven more are in the ICU.
With the state adding 1,068 cases, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Maryland now stands at 955,280. The positivity rate dipped by 0.83% to 9.04% over the past 24 hours.
The state's COVID-19 death toll now stands at 13,227 after an additional 19 deaths were reported since Sunday.
Maryland is now 27 days into its state of emergency, which the governor issued in response to elevated hospitalizations that pushed over a dozen hospitals to near- or at-capacity levels.
Hogan has also issued executive orders aimed at shoring up hospital and nursing home staffing, as well as an order aimed at bolster Maryland's EMS response.
Over the past month, the state has also ramped up 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.
There are 4,389,392 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 11,042,278 doses of the vaccine.
Of those, 4,632,324 are first doses, 1,845 in the last 24 hours. Another 4,057,236 are second doses, 1,514 in the past day. A total of 332,156 Marylanders have gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 37 in the past day.
The state has administered 2,020,562 boosters, 562 in the past 24 hours.
