Maryland officials reported Saturday that the state has confirmed 712 new cases of the coronavirus.*
To date, there are 57,482 cases of COVID-19 in Maryland. Thirty-six more people died because of complications from the illness since Friday, bringing the state total up to 2,616* fatalities.
In addition, 124 people have probably died because of the disease or complications of it but are awaiting laboratory results to confirm their diagnosis.
Saturday’s data show a continued decrease in hospitalizations in the state due to the virus, as 1,059 people are currently hospitalized, 17 fewer patients than Friday. There are 418 patients in intensive care.
The percentage of people who test positive for the disease dropped by nearly half a percentage point to 8%* as testing capacity has increased across the state. Still, that rate remains among the highest in the country, according to numbers from Johns Hopkins.
Many public health experts say a positivity rate of 5% or below is ideal for controlling the virus.
Citing declining hospitalizations and positivity rates, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan lifted several more restrictions on businesses this past week, allowing many nonessential businesses such as nail salons to reopen.
Baltimore is operating on a slightly different timeline. Retail and indoor religious services remain off-limits, though some restrictions are easing. On Monday, hair salons, camps, child care, and outdoor religious services can resume with limitations. The Baltimore Farmers Market and Bazaar, under the Jones Falls Expressway, will reopen next Sunday.
Government officials and public health experts have warned that protests in the city and elsewhere could lead to a spike in new cases of the coronavirus. Crowds of up to thousands of people — not always wearing masks — have taken to the streets of Baltimore over the past 10 days to protest the death of George Floyd, the black Minnesota man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
The virus continues to disproportionately affect the state’s Latino and black populations. As of Saturday, Latino patients made up more than a quarter of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 despite making up roughly 10% of the state’s population.
See below for a breakdown by county, according to the state health department, and go here to see charts and maps of the makeup of confirmed cases in the state.
Allegany: 184
Anne Arundel: 4,210
Baltimore City: 6,141
Baltimore County: 6,696
Calvert: 354
Caroline: 270
Carroll: 950
Cecil: 399
Charles: 1,196
Dorchester: 154
Frederick: 2,100
Garrett: 10
Harford: 947
Howard: 2,094
Kent: 185
Montgomery: 12,624
Prince George’s: 16,316
Queen Anne’s: 168
St. Mary’s: 548
Somerset: 76
Talbot: 108
Washington: 545
Wicomico: 975
Worcester: 232
* This article has been updated. An earlier version reported incorrect numbers of new coronavirus cases, deaths and the positivity rate.