Anne Arundel Boosts Vaccination Rank, But Health Metrics Plateau

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Anne Arundel has started to climb out of the lowest vaccine ranks. The county now has the seventh-slowest immunization rate in Maryland. As recently as Feb. 8, Anne Arundel had the third-slowest inoculation rollout in the state.

While the vaccine numbers are rising, the local health metrics saw a mixed bag of success last week. Most key indicators have plummeted since mid-January, but some are starting to level off.

New cases, deaths and Intensive Care Unit hospitalizations are up slightly. They are still far lower than their recent highs, but the tiny upticks disrupt a months-long decline. On the other hand, total hospitalizations and the positivity rate improved.

Last week's 606 infections are up 85 from the week prior. It was the fourth straight week that Anne Arundel recorded less than 1,000 new cases. Before that, the county had clocked more than 1,ooo new infections per week for about three consecutive months.

The virus also killed 17 county residents last week, which is six fewer than the week before, the Maryland Department of Health said. Here's a look at where the numbers stand in Anne Arundel County.

Vaccine Update

• Currently: 13.76 percent
• Trend: Up by 2.17 percentage points

The state tallies the number of Marylanders who have gotten the immunization on this website. So far, 79,687 Anne Arundel County residents have received their first shot. That's up 12,528 from last week, and it's 13.76 percent of the population.

Anne Arundel County now has the seventh-lowest vaccination rate in the state. That's a one-spot improvement from last week.

Maryland has 24 jurisdictions, including Baltimore City. Kent County leads the way with 22.68 percent immunization.

The second dose has reached 41,339 locals. That's 9,979 more than a week ago, and it's 7.14 percent of all county residents.

For more information on Anne Arundel County's vaccination plan, click here. To see when you'll be eligible for the inoculation, read Patch's explainer. Check out our how-to guide to learn how to sign up for the shot.

Coronavirus Case Rate:

• Currently: 14.95
• Trend: Up by 1.04

Health officials focus on several metrics to evaluate the coronavirus pandemic. The most frequently-used are the case rate, hospitalizations and percent positivity.

The case rate is a per-capita measure that makes it easy to compare places with different populations. A jurisdiction's case rate is the average number of new coronavirus infections-per-day that it registers over a rolling week per 100,000 people.

Anne Arundel County's case rate is still above its summertime high, but it has fallen to 14.95. That's up by 1.04 from this time last week, disrupting a decline that has been fairly steady since January.

The case rate was even lower on Thursday when it dipped to 13.47, however. That was the lowest it has been since Nov. 1, 2020. The case rate has plummeted since Jan. 12, when the county set a record high of 64.99.

Anne Arundel's case rate hit previous peaks of 13.4 on June 3, 2020 and 14.26 on Aug. 2, 2020. It reached an all-time low of 3.53 on June 26, 2020.

Hospitalizations

• Currently: 54
• Trend: Down by 9

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are starting to fall, but they are still above their summertime lows. The disease left 54 Anne Arundel County residents hospitalized on Sunday. That's down nine from the week prior.

Hospitalizations were even lower on Saturday when the county reported 50 patients. That was the fewest since Nov. 7, 2020.

Anne Arundel is easing down from its Jan. 8 peak of 168 hospitalizations, which were the second-most ever. The record high of 172 came on April 21, 2020. Hospitalizations hit an overall low of 21 on Sept. 21, 2020.

ICU Hospitalizations

• Currently: 12
• Trend: Up by 2

Covid ActNow, a coronavirus statistics website, estimates that Anne Arundel County has 50 beds in the intensive care unit. Hospitals need to save some of these beds for emergencies that aren't related to coronavirus.

On Sunday, Anne Arundel had 12 patients in the ICU with the virus. That's up by two from this time last week

ICU hospitalizations were even lower on Friday when the county reported seven patients. That was the fewest since Sept. 15, 2020. That's a significant drop from the 43 ICU hospitalizations registered on Jan. 14, which were the most since May 13, 2020.

ICU usage maxed out at 49 on May 13, 2020. It receded to 4 by Aug. 24, 2020.

Positivity Rate

• Currently: 4.39 percent
• Trend: Down by 0.7 percentage points

The county's positivity decreased last week. This is the percentage of coronavirus tests that come back positive over a moving seven days.

The statistic also measures whether an area has enough tests to identify most of its infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a positivity rate of less than 5 percent demonstrates that a region has enough testing to control its outbreak.

Anne Arundel County's positivity rate fell to 4.39 percent on Sunday. That's down by 0.7 percentage points from this time last week.

The percent positivity was even lower on Friday when it dipped to 4.06 percent. That was the lowest since Nov. 2, 2020.

The positivity rate has steadily declined since Jan. 3. That's when the rate peaked at 10.4 percent, which was the highest since May 30, 2020. The positivity rate is down from its April 16, 2020 high of 28.16 percent, but it's still up from its Aug. 16, 2020 low of 2.29 percent.

Total Cases And Deaths

Anne Arundel County's 35,772 coronavirus infections are the fifth most in the state. The virus is blamed for the death of 525 county residents.

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Have a story idea? Please contact me at jacob.baumgart@patch.com with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County news.