County Executive Worries About Coronavirus Fatigue, Cases Top 12K

Jacob Baumgart
Updated ·4 min read

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Coronavirus cases are spiking in Anne Arundel County ... again. The county hit 12,000 total infections Wednesday, and the number of new cases-per-day is on the rise. Hospitalizations have reached their worst rate since June.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman is starting to get concerned. He wants residents to stay home as much as possible, but he worries that they have given up. Pittman points to the leaping metrics, asking locals to stick with him in the fight.

Coronavirus Statistics Update

The most recent data clock Anne Arundel County's positivity rate at 3.79 percent, which is 0.08 percent higher than the statewide clip. The county's positivity rate hit its pandemic low of 2.29 percent on Aug. 16. Since jumping to a recent high of 4.45 percent on Sept. 7, the rate has varied.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says municipalities should aim to keep their positivity rate below 5 percent. When counties hit this mark, Maryland health leaders say it is likely safe to return to schools for hybrid instruction.

Though Anne Arundel met the positivity rate recommendation, school officials still started the fall semester with online classes for most students. AACPS previously committed to distance learning for the first two marking periods.

The state challenged AACPS's initial decision to remain online. Hogan then urged schools to start considering a hybrid model. AACPS responded by reaffirming its immediate commitment to remote learning while also speeding up its plans for eventual hybrid classes.

Some students, like those in special education and English language programs, started their year under the hybrid model. Seeing their success, Pittman teased a universal hybrid strategy.

The Board of Education eventually decided to offer hybrid classes to willing elementary schoolers. Pittman initially supported the move, but rising coronavirus metrics forced him to reconsider.

"I’ve been worried that people have just thrown in the towel," Pittman said Tuesday virtual town hall. "It’s really easy to just get fatigued."

Anne Arundel County has been under the 5 percent benchmark since June 22. The local positivity rate topped out at 28.24 percent on April 16.

While the jurisdiction meets the percent positive guideline, it does not meet the state's infections-per-capita marker. State health officials say municipalities should aim for a case rate of less than five new coronavirus cases-per-day per 100,000 people.

Anne Arundel County's case rate has aligned with Maryland's trends. It hit an initial peak of 13.84 on June 3 before receding to its minimum of 3.53 by June 26.

A second surge spiked Anne Arundel's case rate to its overall peak of 14.26 on Aug. 2. Infections quelled by Aug. 20, dropping the case rate to 6.93.

After a brief downturn, another wave accelerated the county's infections. The case rate hiked to 12.78 on Sept. 18 and quickly fell to 8.56. by Sept. 27

The case rate has since returned to 12.97. That's more than double the state's goal.

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The county must average less than 28.96 new coronavirus infections-per-day over a rolling week to meet the state's per-capita suggestion. Anne Arundel County has averaged 78.14 new cases-per-day during the last seven days.

Anne Arundel has the fifth most coronavirus infections in the state, with 12,115. The virus has killed 263 county residents.

"It’s like these people are invisible," Pittman said. "We often don’t know who they are, and they are dying alone."

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations have seen an upswing recently. Fifty-seven patients were in the hospital Thursday.

The county reported 58 hospitalizations Tuesday. That was the most since June 11.

Anne Arundel had fewer than 50 coronavirus patients in the hospital between June 14 and Oct. 16. Hospitalizations hit a recent low of 21 on Sept. 27. More than 170 people were hospitalized in Anne Arundel County on the pandemic's April 21 peak.

"The end is in sight, but we’ve got to finish the job that we’ve started," Pittman said.

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This article originally appeared on the Annapolis Patch