COVID-19 In Maryland: Hospitalizations Hover Above 500, Positivity Rate Dips To 2.87%
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A little over 500 Marylanders are hospitalized with COVID-19, the fewest hospitalizations the state has seen in nearly four months, according to data released Wednesday by the Maryland Department of Health.
Hospitalizations fell by 33 over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of COVID-19 patients to 507. That's an 85% decrease compared to last month's peak of nearly 3,500 hospitalizations and it's the fewest patients in Maryland since Nov. 15.
The COVID-19 positivity rate dipped to 2.87%, a 0.05% decrease since Tuesday and a significant drop-off compared to Jan. 5 when the positivity rate flirted with 30%.
Maryland added 341 more COVID-19 cases, bringing the total of confirmed cases statewide to 999,229 since the pandemic began.
The statewide death toll now stands at 13,799, up 13 since Tuesday.
As Maryland's key health metrics continue to show signs of improvement, state and local officials have begun rolling back safety measures that were put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, the Maryland State Board of Education voted 12-2 to rescind its mask mandate for public schools, leaving it up to local school districts. The policy change must still be approved by a General Assembly panel.
Earlier this month, Maryland emerged from a 30-day state of emergency issued in response to elevated hospitalizations that pushed many hospitals to capacity levels. Yet healthcare leaders say hospitals still face nursing shortages.
Of those currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maryland, 394 are adults in acute care and 101 are adults in intensive care. Nine children are in acute care and three are in the ICU.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 95% of Maryland's adult population has gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 90.1% of Marylanders ages 5 and up have gotten a shot.
There are 4,471,539 Marylanders fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Maryland has administered 11,318,984 million doses of the vaccine. Of those, 4,699,589 are first doses, 1,764 in the last 24 hours, and 4,137,131 are second doses, 2,434 in the last day.
A total of 334,408 Marylanders have gotten the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 57 in the last day.
The state has administered 2,147,856 boosters, 3,748 over the past 24 hours.
State officials continue to encourage Marylanders to get their booster shots. As an incentive, the state has rolled out a $2 million lottery.
