Anne Arundel Starts Squashing Coronavirus Surge As Cases Plummet

ANNE ARUNDEL, COUNTY, MD — Anne Arundel County is starting to recover from its post-holiday surge. That third wave pushed the case rate higher than ever and swamped hospitals with coronavirus patients. The county is now on the mend, but it is not in the clear.

Nearly all the key metrics declined for the second straight week. The positivity rate is the lowest it's been since December of 2020, and Intensive Care Unit Hospitalizations are down to their November 2020 levels.

Still, Anne Arundel County tallied more than 1,000 coronavirus infections for the 11th straight week. The county is reporting about twice times as many cases-per-day as its summertime high.

Last week's 1,590 infections are down 382 from the week prior. The virus also killed 25 county residents last week, which is five more than the week before, the Maryland Department of Health said. Here's a look at where all the numbers stand in Anne Arundel County.

Vaccine Update

• Currently: 4.89 percent
• Trend: Up by 1.55 percentage points

The state tallies the number of Marylanders who have gotten the immunization on this website. So far, 28,324 Anne Arundel County residents have gotten their first shot. That's up 8,977 from last week, and it's 4.89 percent of the population.

The second dose has reached 3,080 locals. That's 1,572 more than a week ago, and it's 0.53 percent of all county residents.

The vaccine rollout has five phases: 1A, 1B, 1C, 2 and 3. The following residents were part of stage 1A. Though Maryland has already opened the door to more locals, these people can still get the inoculation:

• Health care workers
• Public health employees
• Residents and staff of nursing homes
• First responders
• Judiciary employees
• Corrections staffers

The state entered phase 1B of vaccination on Jan. 18. That enabled these Marylanders to get the inoculation:

• Anybody age 75 and older
• Residents of congregate living facilities
• School staff
• Those needed for continuity of government
• Child-care providers

Maryland began stage 1C on Monday. Residents age 65 to 74 will be eligible in this period, as will essential workers in lab services, agriculture, manufacturing and the postal service. Anne Arundel County, however, will remain in phase 1B.

"Due to limited vaccine supplies, we are first scheduling appointments for Phase 1A & those age 75+," the Anne Arundel County Department of Health said in a Thursday email.

For more information on Anne Arundel County's 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: 39.21
• Trend: Down by 19.12

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.

As a barometer, Maryland health officials said it is probably safe to return to fully in-person classes when the local case rate dips below 5. Anne Arundel County's case rate is still above this mark, but it has fallen to 39.21. That's down by 19.12 from this time last week.

The case rate was even lower on Saturday. The metric set at 36.52, which was the lowest since Dec. 4, 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: 141
• Trend: Down by 13

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are starting to fall, but they are still soaring. The disease left 141 Anne Arundel County residents hospitalized on Sunday. That's down 13 from the week prior, and it's the lowest since Jan. 2.

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: 25
• Trend: Down by 9

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 25 patients in the ICU with the virus. That's down by nine from this time last week, and it's the lowest since Nov. 25, 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: 7.71 percent
• Trend: Down by 1.39 percentage points

The county's positivity rate is pointing downward after a weekslong rise. 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 dropped to 7.71 percent on Sunday, which is down by 1.39 percentage points from this time last week. The positivity rate hasn't been this low since Dec. 11, 2020.

The rate has been on a steady decline since Jan. 3. That's when the positivity 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 31,764 coronavirus infections are the fifth most in the state. The virus is blamed for the death of 433 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.