BALTIMORE — On the same day the state announced it has administered 1 million doses of vaccine, Maryland health officials reported 1,008 new cases of the coronavirus Friday, along with 16 more deaths associated with the virus.
“I want to thank all the vaccinators working around the clock to get shots into arms, and ask Marylanders for their continued patience during this historic undertaking,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted.
It marks the first time in six days Maryland has reported more than 1,000 cases — ending the state’s longest such streak since a three-month stretch from early August through early November. But those new infections came from 42,000 new test results, the most in a week.
The 16 deaths are also the fewest the state has reported in a day since Nov. 30, when there were also 16. Deaths are not necessarily reported on the date they occur.
Those additions bring Maryland to 374,974 infections and 7,495 fatalities since the state reported its first case of COVID-19 in March 2020.
The state’s seven-day testing positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that return positive results over the previous week, was at 4.12% on Friday, a dip of .01% from Thursday. The rate has declined for 10 straight days, falling from 5.78%. A month ago, the state’s reported positivity rate was 7.79%.
There are 1,016 patients in Maryland hospitals facing the virus’ effects, with 272 in intensive care. The day prior, the state reported those figures as 1,048 and 279, respectively. In the past two weeks, the number of patients facing the virus’s effects has dropped almost 30%, while tally of ICU cases has declined 20% in that time.
