Maryland health officials reporting increasing COVID-19 related hospitalizations

MARYLAND – The state of Maryland is reporting 3,118 COVID-19 hospitalizations as of Wednesday morning. That’s an increase of 61 hospitalizations since Tuesday. “We are currently working on numerous emergency procurements to deal with the multiple emergency actions related to the crisis, including the acquisition of as many of these rapid tests as we possibly can from multiple sources,” said Governor Hogan. “The next four to six weeks will be the most challenging of the entire pandemic.”

Governor Hogan says he is working with state officials on emergency procurement of more at-home rapid tests to address the national shortage. The state is currently in the process of distributing 1 million rapid tests through state-run testing sites and local health departments.

State lab partners are reporting that 88.5% of all recently analyzed samples tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The date suggests that the Omicron variant is the dominant variant among all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Maryland.

Data from the University of Maryland Medical System shows that over the last 30 days, 74% of COVID-19 patients were unvaccinated, 24% were fully vaccinated, and just 2% had received a booster shot. Governor Hogan says this data points to the urgency of Marylanders getting their booster shots as soon as possible. State health officials have authorized booster shots for all eligible Marylanders age 12 or older.

As Maryland has re-entered a state of emergency, state officials are encouraging Marylanders to use all recommended prevention strategies, including getting a booster shot and wearing face coverings.