Deaths and hospitalizations related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been rising in the D.C. region, and the latest numbers leave little to be encouraged about a week before Christmas.
D.C. recorded more than 270 new daily cases Friday and has been seeing, on average, roughly 250 new cases each day for the past week. According to D.C. health officials, there are currently more than 240 people hospitalized for COVID-19, a significant jump from a month ago when that number was 122.
Fifteen people have died in the past week, bringing the total over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic to 728.
About 5,200 people have died in Maryland, with nearly 40 new deaths reported Friday alone.
After the state reported fewer than 200 coronavirus deaths in October, nearly 1,200 patients have died in November and through the first half of December.
Maryland health officials said roughly 1,700 people were hospitalized with virus-related symptoms Friday. A month ago, there were 1,144 people hospitalized.
The state has seen a total of 246,553 cases of the coronavirus, and has recorded at least 1,000 new cases daily for 45 consecutive days.
Responding to the increasing numbers, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered Thursday a decrease in gathering limits from 25 to 10 people and a restriction to nonessential travel.
In Northern Virginia, the number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 has been trending upward steadily, going from 547 a week ago to 615 on Friday. There were 368 patients hospitalized a month ago.
New daily cases in Northern Virginia have been high, but they have also been dipping slightly. The numbers from Friday show the region recorded about 900 new cases, compared to 919 the day before and about 1,000 a week ago. The region recorded 1,124 cases last weekend on Saturday.
Deaths in Northern Virginia have been steadily climbing, going from an average of about three each day last week to about five now. Still, that is far lower than the average in May, when the region recorded roughly 21 deaths per day.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam advised a nightly curfew from midnight to 5 a.m., widened face mask use and capped indoor gatherings to 10 people. Those changes will remain in effect until Jan. 31.
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Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.
