Infections Are Down, But Super Bowl Spike Could Hit Anne Arundel

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Anne Arundel County has started to contain its coronavirus outbreak once again. The county battled a steep surge from Halloween to the New Year.

There was a switch in mid-January, however. Numbers started falling, and the vaccine rollout began, albeit at one of the slowest rates in the state.

Most indicators have dropped to their November levels. The county tallied fewer than 1,000 infections last week for the first time in three months.

Last week's 867 infections are down 413 from the week prior. The virus also killed 21 county residents last week, which is four fewer than the week before, the Maryland Department of Health said.

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health is pleased to see the improvement, but it warned that potential spread at Super Bowl parties may threaten this progress. Health officials urged residents to watch the game from home.

"It's Super Bowl Sunday," Anne Arundel County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman said before the big game. "Don't turn it into super spreader Sunday."

The county saw surges after other party occasions like Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve. It will take about two weeks to see whether gatherings contribute to a spike in cases.

(Story continues below tweet)

Here's a look at where the numbers stand in Anne Arundel County.

Vaccine Update

• Currently: 8.03 percent
• Trend: Up by 1.27 percentage points

The state tallies the number of Marylanders who have gotten the immunization on this website. So far, 46,511 Anne Arundel County residents have gotten their first shot. That's up 7,386 from last week, and it's 8.03 percent of the population.

Anne Arundel County now has the third-lowest immunization rate in the state. Talbot County leads the way with 14.84 percent vaccination.

The second dose has reached 16,357 locals. That's 8,294 more than a week ago, and it's 2.82 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 Jan. 25. 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.

Residents age 75 and up still are the highest priority. The county will start immunizing teachers and school staff next week.

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: 21.38
• Trend: Down by 10.19

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 21.38. That's down by 10.19 from this time last week, and it's the lowest since Nov. 9, 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: 99
• Trend: Down by 5

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are starting to fall, but they are still above their summertime lows. The disease left 99 Anne Arundel County residents hospitalized on Sunday. That's down 5 from the week prior.

There were even fewer hospitalizations Saturday. The 91 patients in county hospitals were the lowest since Nov. 23, 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: 19
• Trend: Down by 6

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 19 patients in the ICU with the virus. That's down by six from this time last week, and it's the lowest since Nov. 22, 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: 6.22 percent
• Trend: Up by 0.14 percentage points

The county's positivity rate increased for the first time since early January. 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 rose to 6.22 percent on Sunday, which is up by 0.14 percentage points from this time last week. The positivity rate reached a recent low of 6.02 last Tuesday before ticking back upward slightly. The percent positivity hadn't been that low since Nov. 30, 2020.

The rate was 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 33,911 coronavirus infections are the fifth most in the state. The virus is blamed for the death of 479 county residents.

Editor's Note

A previous version of this article reported that Anne Arundel County's case rate was 321.38 on Feb. 7. That was a typo.

The case rate was actually 21.38. Patch corrected the mistake. The local case rate peaked at 64.99 on Jan. 12.

Like what you're reading? Invite a friend to subscribe to free Annapolis newsletters and real-time email alerts.

RELATED:

• Anne Arundel Slows Coronavirus Infections, Starts To Limit Spread
• Coronavirus Vaccine: When You'll Be Eligible In Anne Arundel
• How To Get Coronavirus Vaccine In Anne Arundel County
• Anne Arundel Gets $11M To Bolster Vaccination Efforts
• Mass Vaccination Site Opens At Six Flags; MD Battles Slow Rollout

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.