County adds over 400 cases, 3 deaths

Hospitalizations statewide reach record high for third time in less than a week

Anne Arundel County confirmed 425 new coronavirus cases and three new deaths Sunday, the latest sign that the post- holiday surge predicted by health officials has arrived and continues to grow.

The spike in new cases is statewide, with 3,310 new coronavirus cases across Maryland and 25 deaths, according to numbers released by the state.

Numbers released Sunday morning show the county has reached 27,770 confirmed cases and 386 deaths. Another 14 people may have died from the disease, but a lab test was never performed. Maryland now has 306,674 confirmed cases and 6,100 deaths.

Anne Arundel’s seven- day average positivity rate is 10.16%, higher than the state’s 8.73%. The seven- day average case rate per 100,000 people is about 54.31.

The increased cases come as Maryland continues to roll out vaccine allotments fromthe federal government.

As of Sunday, theMaryland Department of Health had administered nearly 136,213 first doses of coronavirus vaccines, and 6,189 second doses to residents who are in the 1A group. This includes health care workers, first responders and residents of long- term care facilities. Officials have said they could move to group1B by the end of the month.

The numbers represent 2.25% of Marylanderswhohave received the first dose of a vaccine. About 0.1% of the state population has received both of the required doses.

Statewide, 1,950 people are currently hospitalized with 485 patients in the ICU and1,465 patients in acute care.

The numbers reported Sunday was the third time in less than a week thatMaryland reported a record- high number of hospitalizations resulting fromcoronavirus infections. Officials said last week that a reporting change could start inflating the hospitalization numbers.

Whereas hospitals excluded patients diagnosed with the disease but who were no longer considered infectious, federal guidance has shifted toward hospitals reporting all coronavirus patients under their care.

The county’s hospitalization rate and cases by ZIP code are not updated during the weekend.

The county reported 167 patients hospitalized with COVID- 19 on Friday, the secondmost hospitalizations recorded since March. Thirty- two needed intensive care.

Data from the Anne Arundel County Department of Health shows the current seven- day average for ICU hospital beds in use is 86.5%. The seven- day average for acute beds in use is about 82.4%. The data reflects hospital occupancy for Anne Arundel Medical Center and the University of Maryland BaltimoreWashingtonMedical Center, but it is amoving metric, as the hospitals can add or reduce capacity as needed.

New projections from Johns Hopkins University showthe cases are likely to peak at the end of this month, making the next few weeks crucial.

County officials are expected to assess additional preventative measures theweek. A county spokesperson said last week that the administration hopes to avoid additional restrictions but that there might be some “tweaks” to the current state of emergency on the horizon.

The case rate is a metric of infections per 100,000 people, averaged over seven days, to judge how quickly and widely the virus is spreading in the county. At 54.31, the case rate has risen since the numbers reported Friday.

While the testing volume has some impact on the case rate, the county generally tests a steady percentage of the population in a given week.

To schedule a test or learn more, go to aahealth. org/ covid19- testing.