Coronavirus positivity rate in Ocean City area is twice as high as state’s heading into Labor Day weekend

On the Friday before Labor Day weekend, one Maryland county’s coronavirus testing positivity rate was more than twice as high as the state’s: Worcester, home to Ocean City, where many will flock for the traditional last weekend of the summer.

Worcester County has reported 875 cases and 25 deaths, fewer than many other areas. But it leads the state with a seven-day average testing positivity rate of 8.1%, according to the Maryland health department. The statewide rate was 3.48% Friday.

The beach crowds prompt a “massive spike in population,” which makes Ocean City the second-biggest city in Maryland during the summer, according to the Worcester County health department. But officials say more testing has inflated the rate, too.

“Over the past weeks we’ve dramatically increased testing within the county,” said Travis Brown, the county health department’s spokesman, in a statement. “We also have new, private labs entering the State reporting system who are not always reporting negative results. This will make the positivity seem particularly high.”

As the Eastern Shore county moves with the state into Stage Three of its reopening plan this weekend, the Worcester health department urges mask-wearing in public, physical distancing, washing hands and “being smart and healthy to protect yourself and your loved ones.” Masks are required on Ocean City’s boardwalk.

“While our positivity rate did increase recently we are staying, cautiously, optimistic and don’t have specific health concerns ahead of Labor Day (except for the increased crowds),” Brown wrote. “Our hospitals and ICUs remain below capacity … and we have a recovery rate of 97%.”

Meanwhile, across the state, Maryland health officials reported 819 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection — the most in one day in nearly a month — and 11 more deaths Friday.

At least 3,645 people have now died from COVID-19 in Maryland, and the total number of confirmed cases has reached 110,831, according to the state health department.

Nearly 20% of the patients with newly confirmed cases Friday were between the ages of 10 and 19, a statistic experts say should be closely monitored as the academic year begins. All of the state’s public schools are starting the year virtually as school officials develop plans for returning to some in-person instruction, but many private schools and some colleges have brought students back.

The respiratory disease is considered deadliest for older people and those with preexisting conditions or compromised immune systems. Seven of the state’s new deaths reported Friday were patients older than 80, three were in their 70s, and one was in their 60s, according to state data.

People in their 20s, 30s and 40s accounted for more than half of the state’s cases as of Friday.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan moved the state into Stage Three of its reopening plan this week, giving the go-ahead for all businesses — including movie theaters and other entertainment venues — to reopen Friday at limited capacity, subject to local restrictions, in advance of the Labor Day weekend.

The number of people currently hospitalized rose by 13 Friday to a total of 395, marking a week-long stretch in which that metric has remained below 400. Of those hospitalized, 108 are in intensive care, four fewer than Thursday, the state said.

The state’s seven-day positivity rate of 3.48% is a slight increase from Thursday, according to the health department.

Johns Hopkins, which calculates the positivity rate differently, reports Maryland’s rate is 4.79%, according to its coronavirus resource center. Hopkins calculates the rate using the number of people tested, while the state uses the total number of tests administered.

Caroline County, which had a 6.34% positivity rate as of Friday, was the only Maryland jurisdiction besides Worcester County above the 5% rate that the World Health Organization recommends having for two weeks before governments begin easing virus-related restrictions.

That upper Eastern Shore county has had 535 total cases and three deaths, the state reported Friday, far fewer than in some of Maryland’s more populated areas. Prince George’s County continues to lead the state in cases, with 26,697 as of Friday, and Montgomery County has had the most deaths, with 783.

In Baltimore County15,959 cases have been confirmed, and 585 people have died, according to the state. Another 14,692 cases have been confirmed in Baltimore City, and 445 people have died from the pandemic.

Black and Latino people continue to be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in Maryland. Black people, who make up about 30% of the state population, represented nearly 38% of the cases and 41% of the deaths for which the patient’s race was known, according to the state.

Latinos only account for about 10% of the state’s residents, but represented nearly 27% of the cases and nearly 12% of the deaths for which the patient’s race was known.

White people, on the other hand, who constitute roughly 60% of the state’s residents, accounted for about 28% of the cases and 43% of the deaths for which the patient’s race was known.

That state’s death toll does not include an additional 144 victims considered “probable” coronavirus patients, but whose infections weren’t confirmed by a laboratory test.