State reports its second consecutive day of fewer than 100 new virus cases
Maryland health officials reported fewer than 100 new coronavirus cases for the fourth time in seven days as the state continues to report record-low infection rates and hospitalizations rates not seen since March 2020.
Here’s where several key COVID-19 metrics stood Sunday:
Cases
The Maryland Department of Health reported 82 new coronavirus cases Sunday, raising the total number of cases to 461,265 since the beginning of the pandemic.
It’s the second consecutive day and fourth time in the past week that the state has reported fewer than 100 coronavirus infections. The state has averaged about 99 new cases per day over the past week.
Deaths
Two more people were reported dead from COVID-19 Sunday, meaning that now 9,466 people have died from the disease since officials began tracking its effects in March 2020.
Hospitalizations
State health officials reported nine fewer people are hospitalized with COVID-19, bringing the total number of hospitalizations down to 183.
It’s the second consecutive day that the state has reported fewer than 200 hospitalizations, a mark the state hadn’t seen since March 2020 prior to Saturday.
In addition, the 52 people currently being treated in intensive care units is the second fewest the state has reported since the beginning of the pandemic. On March 26, 2020, the first date with available data on the number of daily hospitalizations, the state reported 40 people were in intensive care units.
Since April 20, the state has seen a steady decline in the number of patients hospitalized with the disease, falling by nearly 1,100 people during that time period.
Testing positivity
The state again posted a new record-low testing positivity rate, with health officials reporting a seven-day average rate of 0.89%, down by .01 percentage points compared with Saturday.
The rate, which calculates the average percentage of tests that returned positive over a week, has also plummeted since April.
After reaching a rate of 5.9% on April 3, it has steadily declined over the past two months as state health officials have reported fewer cases per day.
The state reported 16,538 tests were returned Saturday, raising the total number of COVID-19 tests completed since March 2020 up to more than 10.6 million.
Vaccinations
An additional 14,558 doses of the three coronavirus vaccines were administered in the past 24 hours, according to the state health department.
Of those, 3,281 were the first doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, 10,822 were the second doses of the two and 455 were of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
As of Sunday, about 59.25% of Marylanders have received at least their first dose of a vaccine and roughly 52.09% have been fully vaccinated after receiving their second dose of the Pfizer and Modern vaccines or receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson version, according to state data.
Administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could pick up soon as federal regulators are expected to approve the use of millions of doses from the Emergent BioSolutions’ Baltimore plant.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has also laid out a plan to gradually shutter the state’s mass vaccination clinics in the coming weeks as demand for shots from those sites has declined.
According to the state, an average of 28,330 vaccinations have been administered daily over the past week.
Vaccines by age: As of Sunday, 71.8% of Marylanders 18 or older have received at least their first dose of a vaccine, according to the state health department.
According to state data, 85.80% of residents 65 or older have received at least their first dose, along with 74.61% of people 50 to 64 years old and 60.49% of Marylanders 18 to 49.
State health officials also reported 43.66% of residents 12 to 17 years old have received at least their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the only version currently approved for that age demographic.
Vaccines by race: About 2.44 times as many white Marylanders have been fully vaccinated than Black residents, according to state data. This is despite the fact that there are about 1.88 times as many white residents compared with Black residents, with the two demographics representing 58.5% and 31.1% of the state’s population, respectively.
However, the disparity has been declining steadily during the state’s vaccination campaign. About two months ago, the difference was about 3.4 times.
The state does not have racial data available for 376,126 administered vaccines, not counting those administered by federal entities.
Additionally, about 8.09% of Marylanders who have been fully vaccinated identify as Latino, according to state data where recipients’ ethnicity was known.
The demographic makes up roughly 10.6% of the state’s population, but the disparity in the vaccination rate has also been declining over the past few months. About two months ago, only 4% of fully vaccinated residents where their ethnicity was known identified as Latino.
The state does not have ethnicity data (Latino versus non-Latino) for 379,101 administered doses, not counting federal entities.
Vaccines by county: Howard County is still the only county in the state to report more than 60% of residents being fully vaccinated, with state health officials reporting Sunday that 61.49% of the county’s 325,690 residents have finished their coronavirus immunizations.
However, five jurisdictions — Worcester, Montgomery, Talbot, Frederick and Carroll counties — are all reporting that more than 50% of their residents are now fully vaccinated.
On the other end, Somerset County still trails the statewide fully vaccinated rate significantly, as only about 32.46% of the county’s roughly 26,000 residents have completed their immunizations, according to state health officials.
About 40.52% of Baltimore City residents have been fully vaccinated, along with 49.8% of Baltimore County residents, according to state data.