Prince George's Breaks Case Rate Record, Passes 40K Infections

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Prince George's County tallied 2,312 coronavirus cases last week en route to passing 40,000 total infections.

The county also set a new record for number of cases-per-day. That meant that Prince George's County had its most prolific week of infections ever.

Since breaking that record, called the case rate, the number of infections has fallen some. The case rate is still nearly eight times the state's goal, however.

Hospitalizations rose for the fifth straight week. Prince George's also tallied 24 virus-related deaths last week, lifting the county's total above 900.

The positivity rate is nearing 10 percent. The county hasn't broken that threshold since June 16.

Here is a look at how Prince George's County's coronavirus metrics are trending as the fall surge takes hold in Maryland.

Coronavirus Case Rate

Health officials focus on several metrics to evaluate the coronavirus pandemic. The most frequently-used are the case rate, hospitalizations and percent positivity.

The case rate is a per-capita measure that makes it easy to compare places with different populations.

A jurisdiction's case rate is the average number of new coronavirus infections-per-day that it registers over a rolling week per 100,000 people.

As a barometer, Maryland health officials say expanded in-person classes are probably safe when the local case rate dips below 5. Prince George's County's case rate spiked to 40.94 on Wednesday.

That was Prince George's highest rate ever. It was also the county's steepest total since May 7 when it set its previous record of 38.85.

The case rate dropped to 37.2 by Sunday, which is 0.98 less than this time last week. Prince George's reached lows of 7.57 on July 2 and 9.96 on Sept. 25, but it's been an upward climb since then.

Hospitalizations

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations have also pointed upward. They are down from their high of 244 in the week of May 3, but hospitalizations are growing quickly.

The disease left 145 people hospitalized in Prince George's County in the last reported week. That's up 13 from the week prior, and it's the most since the week of May 24. Hospitalizations hit an overall low of 44 in the week of Sept. 20.

Covid ActNow, a coronavirus statistics website, estimates that Prince George's County has 122 beds in the intensive care unit. Hospitals need to save some of these beds for emergencies that aren't related to coronavirus.

Last week, Prince George's had 47 patients in the ICU with the virus. That's up seven from the week prior and it's the most since the week of June 7. ICU hospitalizations maxed out at 69 in the week of May 3 and receded to 11 by the week of Aug. 2.

Positivity Rate

The county's positivity rate is back on the climb. This is the percentage of coronavirus tests that come back positive over a moving seven days. The statistic also measures whether an area has enough tests to identify most of its infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a positivity rate of less than 5 percent demonstrates that a region has enough testing to control its outbreak. The Maryland Department of Health says hybrid learning should be safe when jurisdictions fall beneath this benchmark.

Prince George's County's positivity rate sits at 9.21 percent, which is 1.22 percentage points higher than last week. The positivity rate has reached its greatest clip since June 18.

The rate is down from its May 2 high of 41.95 percent, but it's up from its Sept. 24 low of 3.46 percent.

Total Cases And Deaths

Prince George's County's 41,297 coronavirus infections are the most in the state. The virus is blamed for the death of 906 county residents.

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