Anne Arundel adds 152 cases, 5 deaths

Anne Arundel County reported152 new coronavirus cases and five new deaths Tuesday as intensive care unit occupancy creeps toward 90% full. Maryland reported 1,956 new cases and 54 new deaths.

The county health department recorded 25,781 cases overall and 362 deaths and measured 49.1 cases per 100,000 residents, oneof the highest rates since thepandemic began.

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 49.1 infections reported Monday, Anne Arundel County has a higher case rate than Prince George’s County and falls behind only Frederick County among the eight most populousMaryland jurisdictions.

The percent of positive cases per tests conducted is rising as well. Of the test results reported onNewYear’sDay, 10.91% were positive.

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. A rising positivity rate alongside a rising case rate indicates the spread isn’t just an indication of more testing, county health officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman said.

Statewide, Maryland has administered at least 65,692 doses of the two approved coronavirus vaccines, roughly 22% of the more than 345,000 vaccines distributed to the state. More than 41,000 vaccinations took place in the greater Baltimore region, which includes Anne Arundel County.

More than 1,770Maryland residents are hospitalized with COVID- 19, with about 1,361 of those cases using acute care beds and another 410 receiving more serious care. In Anne Arundel County, hospitalizations continue rising. The county reported 150 patients hospitalized with COVID- 19 on Sunday. Thirty needed intensive care.

Data from the Anne Arundel County Department of Health shows the current seven- day average forICUhospital beds in use is 86.5%. The seven- day average for Intensive Care Unit beds in use is about 82.4%%. The data reflects hospital capacity for Anne Arundel Medical Center and the University of Maryland Baltimore WashingtonMedical Center.

Statewide, about 79% of inpatient beds are full, according to data from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Patients with or suspected to have COVID- 19 occupy about 22% of those beds.

Zip code datawas not updatedTuesday, according to the county’swebsite.