Garrett County’s COVID-19 Cases are Increasing Rapidly

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department

Garrett County’s COVID-19 statistics are dismal compared to the state numbers – the second highest case rate, second only to Allegany County, the highest positivity rate, and the lowest vaccination rate.

“Most of the counties in Maryland are seeing a COVID-19 plateau, except in counties with low vaccination rates,” said Dr. Jennifer Corder, Deputy Health Officer for Garrett and Allegany Counties. “We can expect to see this trend continue until most of the population is either vaccinated or acquires immunity.”

Garrett County Numbers:
• Case rate of 68.93 per 100,000 compared to the state rate of 20.01 and 76.89 for Allegany County
• Positivity Rate of 17.43% compared to the state rate of 4.44%
• Vaccination rate of 12+ population is 53.7% compared to the state vaccination rate of 81.9%

“Maryland currently has the lowest COVID-19 case rate in the US, while neighboring West Virginia is the second highest with a case rate of 101,” said Garrett County Health Officer Bob Stephens. “Unfortunately, our vaccination rate mirrors West Virginia so we expect the number of cases Garrett County will continue to increase in the short term.”

Local testing has increased over the last few weeks, with around 400 tests being completed each week. The cumulative total of positive tests is 2,552, with 68 deaths. Rapid tests are currently on back order, requiring all tests to be PCR, which take longer to return results.

Hospitals are reporting a shortage of doses of monoclonal antibodies received from the state, decreasing the number of people who can receive this treatment which can reduce severity of illness and hospitalizations.

“There has never been a better time to get a vaccine,” Dr. Corder said. “Our numbers are bad and we are surrounded by counties with even worse statistics than ours.”

The Garrett County Health Department has weekly clinics scheduled at their Oakland and Grantsville Offices, with Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and Pfizer vaccine available at each clinic.

Oakland Clinics
• Tuesdays at 1025 Memorial Drive
• 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Grantsville Clinics
• Fridays at 28 Hershberger Lane
• 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information and to make an appointment visit GarrettHealth.org or call 301-334-7697 or 301-895-3111.