BALTIMORE — With surging hospitalizations and a rising positivity rate, Maryland on Tuesday reported 2,765 new coronavirus cases – the third largest single-day total since officials began tracking the pandemic in March – and 30 more deaths.
The new data brought the state past 200,000 COVID-19 infections during the pandemic, to a total of 201,135 confirmed virus cases and 4,516 deaths since March.
The state has now reported 1,000 or more new confirmed cases for 28 straight days after previously seeing new cases at that level just four times since the beginning of June.
The state reported 1,583 people hospitalized with virus-related complications Tuesday, up from 1,527 Monday. Hospitalizations have more than tripled since Nov. 1 when they stood at 523 and are getting closer to a late April peak of just more than 1,700.
Among those hospitalized, 350 required intensive care, up from 344 Monday. ICU hospitalizations have more than doubled since the beginning of November, when they were at 127.
Hospitalizations and deaths can lag behind a surge in cases, as it can take weeks for some patients' symptoms to worsen and for some to die.
The state's reported seven-day positivity rate was 7.33%, up from 6.86% Monday.
The new numbers came just hours before Gov. Larry Hogan is set to deliver a news conference on the coronavirus at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Hogan, a Republican, urged Marylanders to reconsider plans with people who live outside of their households ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the coming weeks could bring "a surge upon a surge" of the virus.
Experts have said that the expected impact of the Thanksgiving holiday on new cases likely won't appear in the data until the second week of December.
