Maryland has reported no new deaths from COVID-19 for the first time since 2020 and Virginia has officially hit 70% of adults with at least one vaccine dose, marking major steps in the states’ fights to control the virus.
Gov. Larry Hogan made the announcement Sunday morning that it’s the first time since October 2020 there were no new coronavirus-related deaths.
Maryland is reporting zero new COVID-19 deaths for the first time since October 18, 2020—another major milestone as our state emerges from the pandemic.
If you have not yet been vaccinated, get your shot as soon as possible: https://t.co/MjHeoZnfujhttps://t.co/b5D1vHv1mR
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) June 20, 2021
White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar announced on Sunday that Virginia officially became the 16th state to reach 70% of adults with at least one vaccine dose, including 351,000 newly vaccinated people.
Sunday just in: +849K doses reported administered over yesterday’s total. This includes 351K newly vaccinated. Congratulations to Virginia which became the 16th state to hit 70% of adults with at least one dose! Expect some reporting delay from holiday in next few days.
— Cyrus Shahpar (@cyrusshahpar46) June 20, 2021
In a release, Maryland also touted upbeat trends in multiple other metrics.
The number of new confirmed cases had declined to 42, which is the first time since March 23, 2020 that Maryland reported less than 50 new cases. Hospitalizations have also plummeted to 150 — their lowest level since March 27, 2020 and down 88% since mid-April — as the number of adults with at least one dose reaches 73% (6.6 million).
The state’s positivity rate also declined 88% since mid-April to a record-low of 0.72%. Meanwhile, case rates fell to 1.12 per 100,000, the lowest level since March 26, 2020 and down 95% since mid-April.
WTOP’s Hannah Parker contributed to this report.
