Maryland reports 643 new coronavirus cases, 6 more deaths
Maryland announced 643 new coronavirus cases and 6 deaths linked to COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.
The new data brings Maryland to a total of 117,888 confirmed infections and 3,712 deaths since the first cases were recorded in the state in March. The state had gone 10 straight days reporting single-digit deaths until Tuesday, but returned to single digits Wednesday.
Maryland had the 12th most deaths per capita and the 22nd most cases per capita among states as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus resource center.
Maryland also reported 347 patients currently hospitalized with the virus, down from Tuesday’s 371. Among those people hospitalized, 86 are in intensive care, down seven from Tuesday’s 93.
The state’s seven-day testing positivity rate—a statistic that measures the percentage of positive tests over a week long period—was 3.44%, as compared to Tuesday’s 3.62%. Maryland has reported its seven-day testing positivity rate to be below 4% every day since Aug. 8 and under 5% since June 26.
The 5% figure is significant because the World Health Organization recommends governments record 14 straight days of positivity rates below 5% before pulling back on COVID-19 restrictions. Maryland has been below that mark for more than three months , but it started reopening before getting under 5% positivity.
Hopkins calculates positivity rates differently than Maryland—as of Tuesday, the resource center had Maryland’s positivity rate at 6.44%, the eighth straight day the state has been above 6%. Twenty other states have higher testing positivity rates than Maryland, according to Hopkins' data. The difference in positivity calculations comes from Maryland’s use of overall tests conducted, while Hopkins uses the individual people tested, meaning those with multiple tests are only counted once in Hopkins' calculation.
Maryland ranks 22nd among states in tests per capita, according to Hopkins.
This article will be updated.
———
©2020 The Baltimore Sun
Visit The Baltimore Sun at www.baltimoresun.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
