One year since the first COVID-19 cases were reported in Maryland, Prince George’s County took the time to remember those who died. News4’s Shomari Stone reports.
On March 5, 2020, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the state had diagnosed three coronavirus cases — the first confirmed patients in the D.C. area.
The patients, a woman in her 50s and a married couple in their 70s, live in Montgomery County and fell ill after taking a cruise in Egypt on the Nile River, NBC Washington reported.
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WATCH HEREFew average people expected the pandemic to drag on for a year. No one used the words “pandemic pod;” “essential business” wasn’t a widely understood phrase and “social distancing” was just entering the vocabulary.
It was before someone could simply say, “COVID,” to explain a devastating range of struggles and losses, including more than 7,000 lives lost to the virus.
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SIGN UP Friday marks a full year since the pandemic was known to have reached our region.
Friday, March 5, 2021, is recognized as COVID-19 Day of Remembrance to honor the Marylanders who have lost their lives due to the virus, Hogan announced.
The Maryland flag will be lowered to half-staff to mark the occasion and a twilight ceremony will be held at the State House Friday evening. Members of the public are encouraged to join the ceremony virtually via livestream.
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Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Maryland’s Pandemic By the Numbers
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 385,678 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Maryland and more than 3 million people have tested negative.
More than 35,000 residents have been hospitalized and a total of 7,748 lives have been lost to the virus in the state.
Infections have ebbed and flowed with national trends. The winter holiday season resulted in an all-time high in daily hospitalizations (1,957) on Jan 11. The state’s seven-day average peaked a day later with 3,228 daily cases.
Today, cases and hospitalizations have come down from their peaks thanks to COVID-19 restrictions and vaccinations.
Now, 8.8% of Marylanders have been fully vaccinated and 961,636 received at least one dose.
Cases have been highest in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, where 63,796 and 73,994 infections of COVID-19 have been diagnosed, respectively. Allegany County, however, has the highest concentration of cases in the state – 9,040 cases have been diagnosed per 100,000 people.
