State achieves highest day of doses, COVID-19 positivity rates dip slightly

Apr. 12—COVID-19 positivity rates dipped slightly in the county and state as Maryland boasted its highest day of getting shots in arms over the weekend.

Frederick County's seven-day positivity rate stood at 5.5 percent Sunday, down from 6 percent the week before, the county's website showed. Maryland's rate was 5.41 percent, a decrease from 5.9 one week ago, Maryland Department of Health data shows.

Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Saturday announced the state achieved its highest one-day vaccination record — 94,773 vaccinations. On average, 66,195 shots are going into arms each day in Maryland, Hogan said in a tweet Sunday, up from 62,579 the week prior and 49,713 two weeks ago. There have been 3.43 million doses administered across the state, Maryland Department of Health's website showed.

County Executive Jan Gardner has repeatedly cautioned that Frederick is "not out of the woods yet" and encouraged residents to remain vigilant in following prevention practices such as mask-wearing and physical distancing.

Just more than 62,000 Frederick County residents, or 23.9 percent of the population, were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Sunday, up from about 52,400 in a week.

Approximately 32.9 percent, or 85,496 people, had received the first dose, up from 30.3 percent last week, according to Frederick County's website.

Those that have received the second dose comprise 20 percent (51,894 people), up from 17.7 percent in one week. About 3.9 percent of Frederick County residents received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or 10,144 people, up from 2.5 percent in a week.

About 48.2 percent of adult Marylanders have received at least one shot, the governor tweeted Sunday, up from 41.7 percent one week prior.

Most Marylanders are getting the two-shot vaccines, while 150,203 people had the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine as of April 10, state data showed. There were 1,360,748 Maryland residents fully vaccinated, up from 1,112,930 the week prior.

In Frederick County, there have been 18,742 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began — up from 18,384 the week prior — and 296 deaths, an increase of four from one week ago, as of Sunday's reporting. Maryland had confirmed 426,730 cases and 8,269 deaths.

Female Frederick County residents accounted for slightly more COVID-19 cases than males, at 52.1 percent, while female deaths stood at 51.3 percent.

Hispanic residents have contracted 13.5 percent of local cases, though Hispanic or Latino people make up about 10.5 percent of the county's population, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. They represent 3.5 percent of deaths.

Black residents represented 10.3 percent of cases and 10.6 percent of deaths, while Black or African American people make up approximately 10.7 percent of the county's population. Asian residents had 1.5 percent of the county's cases and 0.6 percent of deaths, while they represent about 5 percent of the local population. White residents contracted the most cases at 52.5 percent, and 75.2 percent have died. White people make up about 80.7 percent of Frederick County.

The county's COVID-19 race breakdown also includes "unknown" and "other." Of the "other" category, these people represented 24.9 percent of cases and 6.5 percent of deaths. The unknowns accounted for 10.7 percent of cases and 7.1 percent of deaths locally.

As has been the trend throughout the pandemic, the greatest percentage of deaths lies within the eldest age group locally. Frederick County residents 80 and older represented 59.7 percent of deaths and 2.6 percent of cases. Conversely, people aged 20 to 39 make up 35.1 percent of cases and 0.6 percent of deaths locally.

COVID-19 patients occupied nine intensive care unit beds and 35 acute care beds at Frederick Health Hospital as of Sunday's report. Across the state, 1,240 Marylanders were hospitalized.

Inside local congregate living facilities, 210 staff and 253 residents contracted COVID-19. Fifty-seven residents died. There were no staff deaths as of Sunday.

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