Maryland reports no COVID deaths in the state for the first time since October

BALTIMORE — Maryland health officials reported no new deaths due to the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the first time the state has gone a full day without any new COVID-19 fatalities since October.

The Maryland Department of Health reported Sunday that no state residents have been reported dead from the virus in the past 24 hours. The last time the state did so was Oct. 18, 2020.

The latest milestone comes when the state is seeing its infection rate continue to decline to those not seen since before the pandemic took hold, reaching a seven-day positivity rate average of 0.72% Sunday, a new record-low for the state.

In addition, the state reported 42 new coronavirus cases Sunday, which is the first time since March 23, 2020, that the state has seen fewer than 50 new cases in a single day.

The state has also fully vaccinated more than half its total population of roughly 6 million people as more Marylanders continue to get inoculated against the disease every day.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan acknowledged the mark on Twitter Sunday morning, calling it a “major milestone” while also calling on those who have yet to be vaccinated to do so.

As of Sunday, six counties — Garrett, Wicomico, Somerset, Washington, Cecil and Allegany — have vaccinated fewer than 40% of their residents, according to state health officials.

Meanwhile, roughly 50% of the total population from the state’s five most populated jurisdictions — Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, as well as Baltimore City — are fully inoculated against the disease as of Sunday. About 1.98 million people from those jurisdictions have been fully vaccinated of their combined 3.96 million residents.

The five jurisdictions along the Baltimore-Washington corridor represent about 65% of the state’s overall population, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.