Baltimore Sun

Maryland reports 989 new cases, 26 deaths

- By Phil Davis

Maryland officials reported Sunday that the state has confirmed 989 new cases of the coronaviru­s.

The state has recorded 25,642 total cases of COVID-19. Twenty-six more people died due to complicati­ons from the illness since Saturday, bringing the state total up to 1,182 fatalities.

In addition, 99 people have probably died due to the disease or complicati­ons of it, but state officials are awaiting laboratory results to confirm their diagnosis.

As of Sunday, 1,635 people are hospitaliz­ed with the disease, which is 22 fewer than Saturday.

It marks the second straight day of declining figures for hospitaliz­ations, which state officials have said are a key factor in determinin­g when to relax social distancing guidelines, travel restrictio­ns and allow businesses across the state to reopen.

However, while there have been two straight days of declining hospitaliz­ations and Sunday’s figures represent a decline in the number of daily new cases compared to Saturday, the state has yet to come close to 14 straight days of decreasing newly confirmed cases.

Gov. Larry Hogan said that the state would need to see two consecutiv­e weeks of declines in the number of new cases before the state would begin its reopening process, although he said he’d be flexible in his interpreta­tion of that guideline from President Donald Trump.

In total, 5,051 people in Maryland have been hospitaliz­ed due to complicati­ons from COVID-19, with 1,666 since released from isolation, the state reported. Prince George’s and Montgomery counties continue to lead the state in total cases, with 7,333 and 5,150, respective­ly.

The D.C. suburbs continue to lead the state in newly confirmed cases, as more than half of Sunday’s newly confirmed cases, 523, came from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties alone.

The 20783 ZIP code — which includes parts of Hyattsvill­e, Adelphi and Langley Park in Prince George’s County — continues to lead the state in total cases with 817, adding 44 new cases in the past 24 hours.

The county closed its coronaviru­s testing site at FedEx Field on Wednesday and will reopen it at the county health department’s Cheverly clinic Monday. In a release, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said the new site would allow the county “to expand our testing capacity ... without concern for weather conditions.”

Silver Spring in Montgomery County continues to see a high concentrat­ion of cases as three ZIP codes associated with the D.C. suburb — 20906, 20902 and 20904 — have a combined 1,407 confirmed cases of the coronaviru­s.

Two ZIP codes in the Baltimore region, 21215 and 21228, also continue to see high counts of the disease, with 398 cases and 324 cases, respective­ly.

The high number of cases in 21215, which includes parts of Northwest Baltimore and Baltimore county, is partly due to an outbreak at the FutureCare Lochearn nursing home, where 154 residents and 66 staff members have been confirmed to have contracted the disease. At least 14 people have died at the facility, according to state officials.

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