Elected officials and public health experts delivered mixed messages about coronavirus restrictions this week, as COVID-19 metrics continue to decline but remain higher than Maryland saw for much of the pandemic before the omicron surge.
In his final State of the State address, Gov. Larry Hogan said Marylanders “must all learn to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it.”
Although the governor said Maryland leaders will make decisions based on “the data and the science,” he also said the state should prioritize returning to pre-pandemic activities.
Howard, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties this week lifted each of their indoor public mask mandates, citing hopeful trends in COVID-19 metrics. So far, Baltimore City has maintained its indoor mask mandate.
Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University and a former Baltimore City health commissioner, wrote in a Washington Post column on Tuesday that COVID-19 restrictions should be lifted immediately in areas where health data is trending positively.
“New and possibly dangerous variants are likely to emerge. But it is precisely because of this future threat that we need to allow normalcy now,” Wen wrote, citing decreasing case numbers and hospitalizations in places like New York City.
Wen said removing restrictions “could give weary Americans much-needed respite while also preserving public health authority for when it’s needed again.”
Meanwhile, some doctors with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said it is not yet time to relax protections against COVID-19. They warned against people adopting a “post-pandemic mindset,” WJZ reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker continues to show high rates of COVID-19 transmission in all 24 Maryland jurisdictions.
Maryland’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 961,805 on Friday, an increase of 11,925 cases reported since last Friday.
The state’s seven-day average positive test rate sat at 6.69% on Friday, down from the average of 10.93% from a week ago.
Maryland recorded its deadliest month of the pandemic in January.
As of Friday, state health officials have confirmed a total of 13,397 Marylanders have died from COVID-19. Of those deaths, 266 were reported since last Friday.
Officials have also reported a total of 258 deaths to date that are suspected to be related to coronavirus.
Maryland health officials reported a total of 1,378 people are hospitalized due to COVID-19. A week ago, the state had 1,979 coronavirus-related hospitalizations.
But hospitalizations remain higher than the state had seen before the omicron surge, since February 2021.
Among the initial doses of coronavirus vaccines, the state administered 4,072,422 second doses of a two-dose vaccine (67.361% of Maryland’s population) and 332,535 single-dose vaccines (5.5%).
A total of 2,050,934 booster shots have been administered to date.
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To find a COVID-19 testing site, click here. You can also contact your local health department for information about at-home COVID-19 test kits.
