More than 10,000 people have died from the coronavirus in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, a grim milestone that comes as case numbers are rising throughout the region.
Today Maryland reported 50 deaths, bringing its total lives lost to 5,012.
Virginia reported 54 deaths today, for a total of 4,335 parents, children, siblings and friends who have died of COVID-19.
D.C. reported four new deaths, for a total of 708.
Throughout the region, leaders have imposed some new restrictions to combat the surge, including reduced size limits on gatherings and new rules for restaurants. Health officials are also preparing for the rollout of the first vaccine doses, a process that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said this week would be “the most massive undertaking of the pandemic.”
At first, vaccine doses will be limited to high-priority groups like healthcare workers and long-term care residents. Local leaders have stressed that the vaccine, while welcome news, does not mean an end to measures like mask-wearing and social distancing quite yet, especially as case numbers soar.
The District reported 244 new cases on Thursday. Its rolling average of new cases per 100,000 has broken its previous record set on May 5 for seven days in a row, and now stands at 40.9. Maryland’s case rate has also been trending up and is now 45.6 per 100,000.
Virginia reported a record of more than 4,000 cases in a single day yesterday, and its 7-day average of new cases is 3,791.
But perhaps even more troubling is the rise in hospitalizations across the region. Hospitalizations are a lagging indicator, appearing a week or two after a rise in cases as patients get sicker. It is also an undeniable sign the pandemic is worsening, and that people are not only testing positive but becoming gravely ill.
Today, 1,720 coronavirus patients occupy hospital beds in Maryland, slightly higher than the state’s late April peak of 1,711. The number of acute care beds in use has passed its spring peak, but the number of ICU beds, 416, remains below its record of 611 in May.
More people are also hospitalized in Virginia than at any point in the pandemic. Virginia is reporting 1,929 hospitalized coronavirus patients — both confirmed and awaiting a positive test — on a 7-day moving average. That’s up from a previous peak on the moving average of 1,573 in May.
Daily deaths in Northern Virginia, which was hit hard at the beginning of the pandemic, are notably lower than those initial months. However, cases have been on the rise there (and in the rest of the state) since October, and deaths can be the last metric to increase after a spike in infections.
In D.C., 9% of hospital beds are now occupied by COVID-19 patients, a level not seen since late June. The city is using 87% of its hospital beds, which it classifies as “moderate capacity.”
Twenty-eight people have died from the coronavirus in D.C. so far this month, compared to 19 in all of October. Thirty-four died in November.
It has now been exactly two weeks since Thanksgiving, and its impact may just be starting to appear in the region’s data. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said earlier this week that we have yet to “feel the brunt of the Thanksgiving holiday.”
