COVID-19 Crisis Declared At Hospitals In Anne Arundel, Prince George's For 1st Time Ever

ANNAPOLIS, MD — A Maryland hospital system, Luminis Health, on Tuesday implemented crisis standards of care for the first time ever. The update comes as COVID-19 patients flood the company's two hospitals: the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis and Doctors Community Medical Center in Lanham.

"These crisis protocols allow us to quickly pivot to help meet the overwhelming demand for hospital services," Luminis Health CEO Tori Bayless said in a press release. "We are all in this together and never more have we needed the support of our communities as we fight through this most challenging time."

Luminis Health was previously under contingency standards of care. That meant non-urgent surgeries that required an overnight stay were postponed. Urgent, emergency and outpatient surgeries continued as normal.

This week's escalation said Luminis Health will only perform urgent surgeries that cannot be handled with less serious measures. The emergency department is now reserved for patients with life-threatening illnesses and injuries. Hospital officials asked Marylanders with less serious ailments to visit a primary doctor or an urgent care facility.

Leaders similarly urged residents not to seek coronavirus tests in the emergency room. This common mistake has increased wait times in already-busy ERs.

The system instead directed visitors to the state-operated, walk-up testing site at the Anne Arundel Medical Center. More information on this location is posted here.

"While we are always here for serious illness and injuries, we are asking the community to avoid the Emergency Department for non-life-threatening issues," said Dr. Sunil Madan, chief medical officer at Doctors Community Medical Center.

Luminis Health may additionally shuffle workers, use more telemedicine and expedite paperwork to reduce the strain on its understaffed teams. Visitation may also be limited.

The company does not know how long these protocols will last, but it pointed to Gov. Larry Hogan's prediction that the next four to six weeks will be the toughest of the pandemic.

The system currently has about 205 COVID-19 patients. That's up 320 percent since Nov. 1, and more than 70 percent of those patients are not vaccinated.

This spike stems from the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The highly contagious, but milder, variant has pushed Maryland hospitals close to their capacities.

"With Omicron spreading rapidly, it is critical our community get the vaccine and the booster as soon as possible and continue masking in public to help minimize COVID-19 symptoms and severity," said Dr. Stephen Selinger, chief medical officer for the Anne Arundel Medical Center. "This has an important impact on reducing hospitalizations and emergency room overcrowding."

Rising Metrics

Maryland's case rate has skyrocketed to 208.59 new infections per day per 100,000 residents. The recent maximum of 213.71 came Monday. That was four times higher than the previous record of 53.39 set on Jan. 12, 2021. The case rate is also well above its recent minimum of 11.16 reported on Nov. 5, 2021 and its overall low of 0.9 recorded on June 25, 2021.

The state's positivity rate is up to 29.98 percent. It was as low as 2.91 percent on Nov. 4, 2021. The all-time minimum of 0.54 percent was set on June 28, 2021. The positivity rate recently eclipsed its March 28, 2020 peak of 26.88 percent. That metric was artificially inflated, however, because tests were scarce early in the pandemic.

This omicron spike prompted an increase in hospitalizations. Maryland's 3,172 patients are a new record compared to the previous peak of 1,952 on Jan. 11, 2021. The hospitalizations are also up from the recent minimum of 490 registered on Nov. 14, 2021 and the record low of 97 posted on July 1, 2021.

The state has reported 11,809 COVID-19 deaths.

Marylanders can get tested by visiting COVIDtest.maryland.gov.

Vaccine Update

A total of 4,278,718 Marylanders are fully vaccinated. The state's population is 6,177,224. About 97.08 percent of Maryland seniors and 92.3 percent of adults have gotten at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Maryland has also made some headway on the newest group eligible for the shot. About 34.53 percent of kids aged 5 to 11 have gotten their first injection since they were cleared for immunization in late October 2021.

The state has given 1,670,441 booster shots.

Maryland's infection and vaccine metrics are updated daily at coronavirus.maryland.gov.

Who's Eligible For First Doses

The Pfizer immunization is the only one with full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. That clearance is good for residents 16 and up. Pfizer also has emergency-use authorization for anybody aged 5 to 15 for their first two doses

The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson inoculations have emergency-use authorization for locals 18 and up.

Emergency-use authorization requires less FDA review than full approval, which is the golden stamp of support from regulators.

Who's Eligible For Boosters

Residents 18 and up who got the Pfizer inoculation can get a booster shot of any kind five months after their initial two doses. Locals 12 to 17 who got the Pfizer must also wait five months, but they are only eligible for the Pfizer booster.

Locals 18 and up must wait six months after their Moderna injections or two months after their Johnson & Johnson vaccines to get a booster shot. Once that time passes, they can get any booster they want.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended getting the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna booster, not the Johnson & Johnson. Experts still urged locals to get Johnson & Johnson's extra dose if Pfizer and Moderna are not available.

Maryland's booster shot guidance is posted here.

Residents can book a vaccine by visiting covidvax.maryland.gov or calling Maryland's multilingual call center at 1-855-MD-GOVAX (1-855-634-6829).

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