WASHINGTON — It’s Wednesday, December 9, and in Maryland, more people are now hospitalized due to the coronavirus than ever before.
As of Wednesday, the state reports 1,715 people are in Maryland hospital beds due to COVID-19. Of those, more than 400 are in the ICU.
The new record comes as the state scrambles to find enough health care workers to treat the exploding number of coronavirus cases in the state.
The situation in the state is so dire that the leaders of the state’s seven largest counties, plus Baltimore City, held a joint call with the press and public on Wednesday to call for Marylanders to stay strong in what they described as the “final battle” against COVID-19. On the call, multiple county executives, including Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, said they were recommending even further restrictions to try to curb the growth of the virus in their areas.
In case you’re in a hurry and just looking for the numbers, here’s how things look today:
- D.C. reported 265 new cases of the virus on Wednesday and 3 new deaths. The city is now averaging 287 new cases of the virus a day – up 91% from where it was just two weeks ago.
- Maryland reported 2,692 new cases of the coronavirus and 46 new deaths on Wednesday. The state has now reported an average of more than 30 deaths a day from the virus for a week straight.
- Virginia reported a new record high of 4,398 cases on Wednesday – the first time the commonwealth has reported more than 4,000 cases in a single day. The commonwealth is now averaging more than 3,500 new cases of the virus a day.
How are things in the DMV?
In D.C., the city’s coronavirus hospital utilization continues climbing upward. As of Monday, DC Health reports 8.8% of the city’s hospital patients are COVID-19 positive. The city’s red line to determine insufficient hospital capacity is 10% COVID-19 positivity among patients.
Staying in the D.C. metro area, Maryland’s two largest counties – Montgomery and Prince George’s – are seeing higher case numbers than ever. As of Wednesday, Montgomery County was averaging 434 new cases of the coronavirus a day and Prince George’s County was averaging 451. Wednesday also saw Prince George’s County report its 45,000th case of the virus.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, for the first time since the pandemic began more than 2,000 people are currently hospitalized for treatment of the coronavirus. Of those, more than 400 are in the ICU and nearly 200 are on ventilators.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is scheduled to announce new COVID-19 restrictions on Thursday to try to curb the growth of the virus in the commonwealth.