School cases rising
County elementaries top local infections
As COVID-19 cases continue to spike across Maryland, data released Wednesday showed two Anne Arundel County schools had reported the most cases of any schools in the state.
Davidsonville Elementary reported 67 cases and Cape St. Claire Elementary reported 47 cases, according to the Maryland Health Department website. In all, Anne Arundel County schools recorded the highest tally in the region with a combined 313 cases. Twenty-seven county schools have reported at least three cases, the minimum number to be considered an outbreak.
“We monitor the numbers every day, and we have conversations with the health department every day about different approaches,” said Bob Mosier, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County School System. “Every situation is different. You can look at the raw number of cases, but really what’s as critical, if not more critical, is the ways in which the people beyond those numbers interact.”
One strategy for quelling an outbreak at one school may be entirely different than a strategy for another school when considering who is infected, where they are located and what grade they’re in, among other factors, Mosier said.
“We’re doing everything we can to continue to keep our schools open, and to keep them open and operating safely,” he said. “That continues to be the number one goal.”
This week, public health officials have once again begun to warn people about the rising case rates. In a statement Wednesday, Anne Arundel County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman recommended that those at risk for severe disease wear masks indoors. His statement is similar to a recommendation from Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, Baltimore’s health commissioner, that everyone wear a mask indoors regardless of their vaccination status given a large rise in COVID-19 cases in the city.
“In Anne Arundel County, our cases are on this rise. It’s a
concern,” Kalyanaraman said in the statement. “At the same time, we are encouraged by the fact that hospitalizations remain low in our county. We are recommending that people who are at risk for severe disease: those who have a chronic illness, are older, or are immunocompromised should wear masks when indoors in public settings. So should the people who are in close contact with them.”
The county has added 147 cases per day over the last week, triple the rate from a month ago, but still far below the daily cases reported in January when cases exceeded 1,300 a day.
Over the last month, Anne Arundel County’s positivity rate, that is the percentage of COVID19
tests that came back positive, has nearly tripled to 10.92% as of Wednesday, up from 3.78% in early April. The positivity rate in Maryland was 6.39% on Wednesday.
The rate of infections in the county has also soared to about 25 cases per 100,000, up from 8 per 100,000 a month ago.
That’s a more than 200% increase, but still well below the peak in January when rates hit 186 cases per 100,000.
Hospitalizations, meanwhile, have remained low in Anne Arundel hospitals. Fifteen people were occupying acute care beds and one person was reported needing intensive care, according to county health department data.
That’s compared to early January when around 280 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
“Vaccines are still the best tool we have and we encourage everyone to stay up to date on their vaccine and booster,” Kalyanaraman said.
Across Maryland, there were 1,540 new cases reported Wednesday, also far below the pandemic peak in January, which was above 15,000 daily cases, state data shows. Just over 300 people were hospitalized.
Area colleges have also experienced a spike in cases in recent weeks. In an email to the St. John’s College student body last week, officials announced the college’s active case rate had risen to 81, or roughly 20% of the school’s population.