BALTIMORE – Maryland health officials reported 722 new cases of the coronavirus Monday, the fewest for a single day since Oct. 26, along with 26 more deaths associated with the virus.
Those additions bring Maryland to 371,705 infections and 7,400 confirmed fatalities since the state reported its first case in March 2020. The state has reported fewer than 1,200 new cases for eight straight days and has been below that mark for 11 of the past 15 days.
Monday’s low case count coincides with the state reporting fewer than 20,000 test results, following five straight days with at least 30,000 reported.
Nearly 900,000 vaccine doses have been administered overall, according to state data.. The state has averaged more than 27,700 doses administered per day over the past week, the highest that measure has been.
The state’s seven-day testing positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that return positive results, was beneath 5% for a fourth straight day, falling from 4.63% to 4.53%. A month ago, Maryland’s reported positivity rate was 8.31%, and the state’s figure had not been under 5% for more than two months.
With the seven-day positivity rates for those older than 35 and younger than 35 at 4.56% and 4.53%, respectively, both rates are under 4.6% for the first time since Nov. 3. Maryland residents younger than 40 account for almost exactly half the state’s infections but represent only 1.5% of deaths, among those whose ages were known.
There are 1,113 patients in Maryland hospitals facing the virus’ effects, with 285 in intensive care. The day prior, the state reported those figures as 1,166 and 293, respectively, and both metrics are at their lowest points since mid-November.
