County infection rate worst in state
After weeks of decline, Anne Arundel cases back on the rise
Anne Arundel County reported the highest rate of coronavirus infections in Maryland Thursday, with cases are creeping back up after falling for seven weeks.
The county case rate reached 16.6 cases per 100,000 people, up from a four-monthlow 13.5 infection rate on Feb. 25. The metric is higher than every other Maryland jurisdiction’s and is among a handful where case rates are now rising instead of falling.
The uptick doesn’t have a simple explanation, said county health officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, and the health department is waiting on more data to determine whether the increase is a blip or something more serious.
The county eased restrictions on restaurants, social clubs and other public places on Feb. 25, coming into line with the state and many other counties. But other coun
ties haven’t seen the same small increase in infections this week.
If the change is attributable to new, variant forms of the coronavirus, it will show up in other populations as well, Kalyanaraman said.
“All of our indicators are mixed right now,” he said, “but that just means you just have to be that much more vigilant.”
The county reported 121 new coronavirus cases and one new death. Maryland reported 809 new cases and three new deaths.
The total number of confirmed infections since March is now 36,084, and at least 529 Anne Arundel County residents have died. Fourteen others are suspected of having died of the virus but were never tested.
Across the state, at least 384,765 infections have been recorded since March, and at least 7,740 Marylanders have died of the virus.
About 5.32% of tests for the virus in Anne Arundel County came back positive. The statewide positivity rate reported Thursday is 3.24%.
The state reported 856 Maryland residents are hospitalized with COVID-19. About 640 of those patients require acute care beds, and another 216 are receiving more serious care.
In Anne Arundel County, hospitalizations are down. The county reported 44 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday. Ten 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 76.1%. The seven-day average for acute beds in use is about 83%. The data reflects hospital occupancy for Anne Arundel Medical Center and the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center, but it is a moving metric, as the hospitals can add or reduce capacity as needed.
Vaccinations
The vaccination effort across the state is underway.
Thursday, Anne Arundel County continued vaccinating groups in Phase 1B, which currently includes all residents age 75 and older, residents and employees of group living facilities, workers needed to keep the government functioning, teachers and childcare workers.
Vaccinations for Phase 1A groups, mainly health care workers and first responders, are also continuing.
To sign up for vaccination, visit aacounty. org/covidvax.
More than 84,317 residents have received their first shot, and at least 43,462 residents have received their second shot, according to the county health department.
Across Maryland, more than 1,436,396 residents have received a first or second shot, according to the Maryland Department of Health. As of Tuesday, Maryland administered roughly 85% of its doses.
ZIP codes
Here is an alphabetical breakdown of the number of cases in each ZIP code in Anne Arundel County as of Thursday. State numbers are in parentheses. ZIP codes that overlap more than one county are in italics.
The state numbers also account for cases at congregate living facilities in those ZIP codes, which the county numbers do not include.