Maryland reports 985 more coronavirus cases, 15 more deaths

BALTIMORE – Maryland reported fewer than 1,000 new coronavirus cases Monday, and hospitalizations from the virus decreased very slightly, but the positivity rate ticked up.

Meanwhile, nearly one in four Marylanders are fully vaccinated against the disease.

Here’s where things stand:

Cases

Maryland health officials reported 985 new cases of the coronavirus Monday.

But over the past few weeks, the state is averaging about 1,300 new cases a day — up from 1,100 at the beginning of the month.

That average has climbed steadily since early March, when it hovered below 800.

Throughout the pandemic, Maryland has reported a total of 427,715 coronavirus cases.

Deaths

Monday, 15 more people were reported dead from the coronavirus. Since the pandemic hit Maryland, 8,284 people have died in the state.

Hospitalizations

Meanwhile, 1,233 people are hospitalized in Maryland with COVID-19, 7 fewer than the figure reported Sunday.

The state has reported more than 1,000 Marylanders hospitalized due to the disease every day since March 29.

Positivity

Maryland’s seven-day average testing positivity rate is 5.6% as of Monday, up from 5.41% reported on Sunday.

Fewer tests are normally conducted on over weekends, though. About 15,000 were reported Monday, compared to between 30,000 and 50,000 during the week.

The positivity rate has declined slightly since it climbed close to 6% early this month, but it’s been above 5% since March 29.

Vaccinations

Monday, state health officials reported administering 41,195 new coronavirus vaccine doses, down from about 64,000 shots reported on Sunday and a record 94,000 shots reported on Friday.

That includes 10,620 first doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech regimen, 15,916 second doses and 14,659 doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

In total, about 23% of the state population is fully vaccinated so far.