COVID-19 In Maryland: Over 2.2K New Cases Reported, 21 More Deaths

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Over 2,200 new COVID-19 cases and 21 additional deaths were reported in Maryland on Saturday, according to the State Department of Health.

A total of 2,280 new cases were reported and 21 more Marylanders died from the virus.

Hospitalizations went down by 36 to 1,685, with 424 people in the ICU.

The statewide positivity rate went down to 7.10%.

A total of 265,440 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state since the pandemic began, and 5,514 have died.

So far, over 18,000 people have been given the COVID-19 vaccine. Among them are Baltimore County Health Department and EMS staff.

"What we wanted to do was vaccinate our staff who are the testers, vaccinate the staff who are the vaccinators and also start to vaccinate the EMS," Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch, Baltimore County Director of Health & Human Services, said.

While vaccinations are a big step in the right direction, former Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said the country is months away from herd immunity.

"It won't take half a year or more for us to get to here immunity so that everybody is able to be protected from coronavirus," Wen said.

In the meantime, Dr. Branch said everyone should still practice social distancing and wear a mask.

"I want everyone to social distance this year so that next year when you get together no one is missing," he said.

Over 5.5 million COVID-19 tests were administered since March and more than 38,087 tests were taken in the last 24 hours.

Over 18,000 Marylanders have been vaccinated against the virus.

Here is a breakdown of the numbers:

For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.

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• COVID-19