Maryland reports fewest COVID cases since October as positivity rate continues to decline

By PHIL DAVIS | BALTIMORE SUN | MAY 09, 2021 AT 12:36 PM | Original Source here Maryland health officials reported the fewest coronavirus cases in a single day since Oct. 6 as the state saw its positivity rate continue to trend downward Sunday.

Here’s how the Maryland Department of Health’s COVID-19 indicators stacked up Sunday:

Cases There were 434 newly confirmed coronavirus cases Sunday, the fewest the state has reported since Oct. 6 and the first time fewer than 500 daily cases have been reported since March 2. State health officials have reported 453,125 cases of the coronavirus to date.

The state has averaged roughly 705 new infections daily over the past two weeks, down from a mid-April peak of 1,371.

Deaths

Eight more Marylanders died due to complications from COVID-19, bringing the total number of fatalities up to 8,660 people since the state began tracking the disease in March 2020.

Hospitalizations

There were 822 people hospitalized in Maryland due to complications from COVID-19, 47 fewer than Saturday. Testing positivity

The statewide seven-day average testing positivity rate is now 3.31%, down from 3.43% Saturday.

Maryland is now reporting an average positivity rate more comparable to rates last seen in early March, before the jump in daily cases the state saw in late March and much of April.

A total of 25,154 COVID-19 tests were completed in the prior 24 hours Sunday.

Vaccinations

Health officials administered 49,788 total doses of the three available coronavirus vaccines — the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech and Modern vaccines as well as the single dose Johnson & Johnson — in the past 24 hours.

Of those, 34,937 were either the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose of the Johnson & Johnson. As of Sunday, the state is reporting that more than 2.33 million Marylanders have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, or nearly 38.6% of the state’s population.

Additionally, roughly 3.08 million state residents have received at least their first dose of a vaccine — nearly 51% of Maryland’s total population. Vaccines by age:

The state reported that nearly 82.3% of residents 65 or older have received at least their first dose of a vaccine as of Sunday. In addition, 67.6% of residents 50 to 64, 51.2% of those 18 to 49 and 38.5% of 16- and 17-year-olds have gotten at least their first doses, according to the health department.

Vaccines by race:

About 2.67 times more white people have been fully vaccinated compared with Black residents, according to state health department data. There are about 1.88 times as many white residents in Maryland compared with Black residents, as the demographics represent about 58.5% and 31% of the state’s population, respectively, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state does not have racial data available for 288,080 administered doses, not counting doses administered by federal entities.

In addition, about 6.1% of residents who have been fully vaccinated identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to available data on ethnicity from the state health department. About 10.6% of Marylanders are Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state does not have ethnicity data — Hispanic versus non-Hispanic — for 301,608 administered vaccine doses, not counting federal entities.

Vaccines by county:

Talbot County, an Eastern Shore jurisdiction of about 37,000 people where 29.7% of its residents are 65 or older, still leads the state in fully vaccinated residents. As of Sunday, 46.1% of the county’s population has been fully vaccinated, according to state health officials. Among the state’s five most populated jurisdictions — Montgomery, Prince George’s, Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties as well as Baltimore City — Montgomery County has the highest rate of fully vaccinated residents as about 41.8% of the county’s more than 1 million residents are fully inoculated as of Sunday, according to state health officials.

Prince George’s County has the lowest rate of fully vaccinated residents among those jurisdictions, as 28.9% of its roughly 909,000 residents have been fully inoculated as of Sunday. It is one of seven counties reporting that fewer than 30% of residents have received either a second dose of the two-dose regimen vaccines or the single-dose J&J vaccine.

Of the two most populated counties in Maryland, Montgomery is about 60% white and Prince George’s is about 64% Black.

State health officials reported that about 30.8% of Baltimore City residents have been fully vaccinated as of Sunday, as well as roughly 38% of Baltimore County residents.

Somerset County, an Eastern Shore jurisdiction of about 26,000 people where about 41.5% of residents are Black, still has the lowest rate of fully vaccinated residents. Health officials reported Sunday that 23.5% of the county’s population has been fully inoculated, the only county in the state to report a rate below one-quarter of its population.

The state does not have county-specific data for 434,137 administered vaccine doses.