The remains of a coronavirus victim are wheeled from a refrigerated truck trailer at Holy Cross Hospital in Germantown. More people have died from COVID-19 in Montgomery County — which has reported 576 deaths as of May 25 — than anywhere else in Maryland. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
MARYLAND — As of Monday morning, the Maryland Department of Health reported 47,152 people have tested positive for the coronavirus. In the last day, 839 new cases of the virus have been confirmed.
Officials say 2,187 Marylanders have died from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus; lab results are pending for 115 others as of Monday.
Of those who have died, officials reported Monday morning that 1,001 were residents of Montgomery and Prince George's counties, where 526 and 475 have died from the illness, respectively.
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"On this Memorial Day weekend, we pray for all of our fallen," Gov. Larry Hogan said in a video released on Twitter Monday morning. "If these last few difficult months have reminded us of anything, it is that life is so fragile."
If these last few difficult months have reminded us of anything, it is that life is so fragile. On this #MemorialDay, I ask Marylanders to reflect on the American heroes who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. pic.twitter.com/QFu4KDqVzO — Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) May 25, 2020
Statewide 1,279 people are hospitalized with the virus as of Monday morning, health officials say. Admissions went up on the intensive care unit day-to-day, where 517 patients were being treated for the virus Monday, compared with 503 people Sunday.
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Since the first cases of the virus were confirmed March 5 in Maryland, authorities report 8,092 people have been hospitalized due to the virus and 3,329 Marylanders have been released from isolation.
In Maryland 202,425 people have tested negative for the virus, authorities said Monday morning — an addition of 8,376 since Sunday.
The state's positivity rate for the coronavirus is 18.89 percent, based on Monday's data. Health experts expect as more people are tested, the overall positivity rate will go down, so officials can determine just how many people have the virus and work to contain it.
Of the 9,215 new test results reported Monday, 839 were positive, meaning the positivity rate from this batch of test results was 9.1 percent.
"This will help doctors diagnose and treat new cases more quickly," Hogan said, "and it will further increase the safety of our state for all citizens."
Baltimore County announced Friday it would begin testing residents without a doctor's order; however, people must call the county's COVID-19 hotline at 410-887-3816 to get an appointment.
State health officials rolled out appointment-free testing at the Maryland State Fairgrounds Thursday. Within a little more than an hour, Baltimore County officials reported the site had reached capacity. It had 1,000 tests to administer for the day. The Glen Burnie and Hyattsville VEIP stations began offering appointment-free testing Friday, and the VEIP station in Clinton is expected to open this week with appointment-free testing as well.
Maryland has reportedly deployed teams to conduct universal testing for nursing home residents and staff as well as workers at the state's two poultry processing plants.
Symptoms of the new coronavirus can appear two to 14 days after exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which lists the following as possible indicators of the illness: fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pain, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.
Health officials say most people with the virus will experience mild symptoms and can recover at home. Older adults and people of any age with serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19, according to the CDC.
People should call 911 and seek immediate medical attention if they have trouble breathing, bluish lips or face, new confusion or inability to arouse and/or persistent pain or pressure in the chest.
