Two Years Of COVID: What Has Life Been Like In Maryland?

MARYLAND — Two years of the coronavirus pandemic have brought face mask debates, school upheaval, businesses and workers struggling to survive, and 13,828 deaths as of Friday. Maryland's second COVID-19 anniversary is nearly here.

Patch wants to know how our readers have coped during the pandemic. What have you mourned or celebrated, what financial impacts did you face, what kept you going?

We've created a survey asking how the pandemic has affected you, click here to fill out the survey. If you are willing to talk to an editor, you can share your contact information with Patch; it will be kept confidential.

The survey is not meant to be a scientific poll, with random sampling and margins of error, but is meant only to gauge the sentiments of our readers in an informal way.

The World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

March 5, 2020, is when state officials confirmed the first cases of the respiratory virus had sickened Maryland residents. Within days, life was turned upside down as events were canceled, businesses shuttered — some for months, some forever — schools tried to teach students via video, and face masks and toilet paper were in short supply.

By early 2021 vaccines were rolling out across the country, and Marylanders begin to gather again at ballgames, restaurants and school events. Summer saw travel skyrocket as families got out of the house, and then the delta variant of the coronavirus sent cases, and hospitalizations, soaring again.

That was followed over the holidays by a surge tied to the omicron variant, with cases finally falling.

On Feb. 25, Maryland's positivity rate was 2.78 percent, one of the lowest rates in the country, according to the state's COVID dashboard.

In the past 24 hours, 15 Marylanders died from the respiratory disease. Gov. Larry Hogan said last month that patients in the state's hospitals were almost entirely those who were unvaccinated and contracted the more contagious omicron strain.

A total of 459 COVID patients were hospitalized Friday, a decrease of 21 patients from a day earlier.

In a sign that the country is shifting to living with the virus, the Biden administration was expected to loosen federal COVID-19 mask guidance Friday as infection rates return to pre-omicron variant levels around the country.

The expected change means most Americans will live in areas where federal guidelines say they're not required to wear masks indoors.

The Maryland State Board of Education decided Feb. 22 to lift its statewide mandate that students and staff wear face coverings in school. Instead, the decision about masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will rest with each local jurisdiction and its respective school board.

The decision does not take effect until state lawmakers ratify it.

"I want to thank the State Board of Education for heeding our call to rescind its school mask policy," Gov. Hogan said in a statement Tuesday. "This action aligns with the data and the science, the recommendation of the State Superintendent of Schools, and the guidance of medical professionals across the country."