Maryland reported 9,693 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, along with 70 new deaths and 3,452 people currently hospitalized.
More than 12,000 Marylanders have died from COVID-19 since March 2020. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has also more than tripled over the last month, and hospitals continue to be overwhelmed by the high numbers and lack of resources.
[ Staffs of Maryland hospitals, stressed and sickened with COVID-19, know ‘cavalry’ isn’t coming ]
Topping 60 late last week, the number of pediatric patients in Maryland hospitals for COVID-19 has also reached pandemic highs.
As of Monday, the number remained above 40, a threshold that had never been reached until this month. Children still make up less than 2% of all hospitalized patients, though, a mark that has been eclipsed only once, in mid-September, during the delta surge.
Of all hospitalized patients, the percentage in the ICU remains at a pandemic low, at around 15.87%.
While hospitalizations continue to rise, Monday was the first time in 12 days that the state reported less than 10,000 new cases a day. On Sunday, the state reported a record 17,252 new cases.
The seven-day positivity rate has decreased slightly over the past few days to 27.62% after rapidly rising for several weeks as the highly contagious omicron variant spread. A month ago, the positivity rate was 6.53%.
Content editor Steve Earley contributed to this article.