Maryland confirms 710 new virus cases
Marks fourth straight day of decline; state adds 7 deaths
Maryland officials reported 710 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus Tuesday, the fourth straight day in which the number of new infections was fewer than the day before.
That streak matches May 2-5 for the state’s longest stretch of repeated case declines since the pandemic began. The days preceding both streaks each featured more than 1,100 new cases.
Tuesday’s additional cases bring the state to 91,854 confirmed infections of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, while seven new fatalities reported Tuesday increased the virus’ death toll in Maryland to 3,396.
The state’s testing sites were closed Tuesday because of the potential impacts of Tropical Storm Isaias.
The number of patients currently hospitalized because of the virus fell by one to 547, with 137 of those cases requiring intensive care.
Maryland reported its 40th consecutive day Tuesday with a testing positivity rate below 5%. The state’s seven-day average positivity rate increased slightly to 4.44%.
The World Health Organization recommends governments see 14 straight days of testing positivity rates beneath 5% before easing virus-related restrictions, though Maryland began its reopening process before officially hitting that benchmark.
During this 40-day stretch, Maryland has yet to report a streak of longer than six consecutive days in which its single-day positivity rate was below 5%. The state reported a single-day positivity rate Tuesday of 4.96%, the highest of the past six days.
Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus research center, which calculates the positivity rate differently than the state, has Maryland’s seven-day rolling positivity rate at 5.96% through Monday’s data. Although that’s a drop from 6.14% the day before, Hopkins has Maryland as one of 34 states with a positivity rate above 5%, though its rate is the fifth-lowest of that group, between neighboring Pennsylvania (5.56%) and Virginia (6.07%).
The difference in Hopkins and state’s rates stems from the data used to calculate them. Maryland calculates positivity rate using the number of positive tests divided by total testing volume, while Hopkins’ rate is determined using the number of people with confirmed cases divided by the number of people tested, meaning individuals receiving multiple positive or negative tests are counted only once in the calculation.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for reopening calls for 14 straight days with a positivity rate beneath 10%, which Maryland has achieved in both its single-day and sevenday rates, with a median test result return time of fewer than two days. The state is not reporting its average test return time and some people have complained of waits of a week or more.
Tuesday’s 710 new confirmed infections marked Maryland’s fewest since July 28, but the 16,377 test results reported Tuesday were the state’s fewest since July 29. Maryland officials had reported at least 23,000 test results each of the previous five days.
In all, Maryland has reported more than 1.3 million test results performed on about 972,000 residents. Of those tested, 9.4% have received at least one positive result.
The 14-day rolling average of new cases is 879, more than double the 385 case average at the same point in July and marginally lower than the averages of 909 and 881 at the same points in May and June, respectively.
A little more than half of Tuesday’s new cases, 358, were in residents between the ages of 10 and 39. Those age groups represent 42.6% of Maryland’s overall caseload, while more than 70% of the virus’ victims in the state have been at least 70 years old.
Maryland does not have race data available for 16% of its cases. Among those it does, 30% are Hispanic residents, three times that group’s proportion of Maryland’s overall population, according to U.S. Census data. Black residents, 31% of the state’s population, are 37% of the cases where race is known, while white residents, 59% of Maryland’s population, are 26% of the infections.
White residents are the plurality of victims at 42%, while Black residents, who comparatively account for about half the proportion of Maryland’s population as white residents, account for 41% of those the virus has killed in the state, among those whose race was known.
More than 28% of Tuesday’s new cases were in Prince George’s County, the Maryland jurisdiction with the most total cases. A combined 31% of the new infections were in Baltimore County and Baltimore, which rank third and fourth, respectively, in total cases among Maryland jurisdictions.