County adds 71 more cases of coronavirus, one death

Case rate has been rising steadily since early October

Anne Arundel County added 71 more cases of confirmed coronavirus Saturday, with a reported case rate of 12.2 per100,000 people.

The county also had one death, bringing the total count to 251, and now has 11,222 confirmed cases of the virus, according to data provided by theMaryland Department of Health. There are 12 deaths that are considered to be related to the virus although a laboratory test was not performed.

On Thursday, the county reached a 12.2 rate, higher than the county health department considered to be safe for students to return to school buildings.

CountyHealth OfficerNilesh Kalyanaraman provided metrics for county schools to followearlier this month. Alongwith ateam of experts, the county health department decided a daily rate of 10 cases per 100,000 people is an acceptable level to resume classrooms, specifically for kindergarten to fifth grade.

The case rate is used to compare to other counties and states and offer more insight into the spread of the virus, according to the metrics document provided by the county health department.

“The risk of spread and school disruptions increases with increasing case rate,” the document stated.

The department developed three reopening levels basedonthe virus conditions and officials recommending hybrid inperson learning if the case rate falls below 10.

From 10 to 15, reopening schools is no longer recommended by the department but the school system could still “consider hybrid in-person learning,” as long as the health and safety measures are being followed.

But the case rate has been steadily rising since early October.

Families of elementary school students have to choose between continued online learning or a return to classrooms by Monday after the system extended the deadline.

The state has confirmed 135,127 cases of the disease with 3,891 confirmed deaths, according to state data.

The county health department does not provide a breakdown of cases by ZIP Code onweekends.