Coronavirus Cases Set Daily, Weekly Records In Anne Arundel

ANNE ARUNDEL, COUNTY, MD — Anne Arundel County tallied more than 1,000 coronavirus infections for the fourth straight week. The county is reporting more than twice as many cases-per-day as its summertime high.

Last week's 1,687 infections are up from the week prior, setting a new record for cases in a seven-day span. On Thursday, the county hit a new single-day high of 309 coronavirus infections in 24 hours. Anne Arundel broke the record again the next day, posting 331 cases.

The virus killed six county residents last week, the Maryland Department of Health said. Hospitalizations hit a new high and then started to plateau. The county's positivity rate, on the other hand, is .86 percentage points less than the statewide average.

Here is a look at how Anne Arundel County's coronavirus metrics are trending as the fall surge takes hold in Maryland.

Coronavirus Case Rate

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 say expanded in-person classes are probably safe when the local case rate dips below 5. Anne Arundel County's case rate has spiked to 39.66. That's up by 12.22 from last week, and it's the jurisdiction’s highest clip ever.

Anne Arundel's case rate hit previous highs of 13.4 on June 3 and 14.26 on Aug. 2. It reached a low of 3.53 on June 26, but it's been an upward climb since then.

Hospitalizations

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations started to plateau, however. Hospitalizations are down from their April 21 high of 172, but they are still above their summertime lows.

The disease left 109 Anne Arundel County residents hospitalized on Sunday. That's up 3 from the week prior. Last Monday's 124 hospitalizations were the most since May 13.

The county had fewer than 50 hospitalizations between June 14 and Oct. 18. They hit an overall low of 21 on Sept. 21.

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 26 patients in the ICU with the virus. That's down 3 from this time last week.

ICU usage maxed out at 49 on May 13. It receded to 4 by Aug. 24. ICU beds then hit a recent high of 30 on Nov. 27.

Positivity Rate

After a small dip, the county's positivity rate is back on the 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 says a positivity rate of less than 5 percent demonstrates that a region has enough testing to control its outbreak. The Maryland Department of Health says hybrid learning should be safe when jurisdictions fall beneath this benchmark.

Anne Arundel County's positivity rate reached 7.04 percent on Saturday, which was the highest since June 18. By Sunday, however, the positivity rate fell to 7.03 percent, which is up by 1.42 percentage points from last week.

The positivity rate is also down from its April 16 high of 28.16 percent, but it's up from its Aug. 16 low of 2.29 percent.

The county stayed beneath the 5 percent positivity threshold for 137 days. That streak, which started on June 22, came to an end on Nov. 7. The local positivity rate dipped below 5 percent for three days last week, but it has since increased.

Total Cases And Deaths

Anne Arundel County's 18,429 coronavirus infections are the 5th most in the state. The virus is blamed for the death of 292 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.