Covid-19 Cases Increase Sharply on the Eastern Shore, Throughout Maryland, and Across the World
Jane Jewell • November 24, 2020
It’s not a pretty picture these days. Covid-19 is on the rise everywhere — all across the world — giving full meaning to the term “pandemic.” Unfortunately, the United States and the world are now in the scenario predicted last spring by practically every medical expert everywhere — a larger, even worse wave of covid-19 as the cooler weather of fall and winter set in. Here in the U.S., all significant indicators — new cases, positivity rates, and hospitalizations — are going up. The worst hotspots in the U.S. are now in the western and midwestern states, but Maryland and its Eastern Shore are also seeing sharp increases.
To better allow comparison, the rates reported here are for the average number of new cases over the seven days ending Saturday, Nov. 21, and are adjusted per 100,000 population.
As of Nov. 21, of all the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories, North Dakota had the highest weekly rate of new cases at 176.5 per 100,000. Wyoming and South Dakota were the second and third highest with similar new-case rates of 142.9 and 141.2. Minnesota at 125 and Nebraska at 123.6 were fourth and fifth.
Five other states also had rates over 100 — Iowa, Montana, Wisconsin, Utah, and New Mexico — for a total of 10 states averaging over 100 new cases per day. Two weeks ago there were only three states with rates over a 100, and the highest rate then was North Dakota at 136. Now the highest is 176.5 and rising. Nationwide, the average number of new cases per day has increased 67 percent from the average two weeks ago. Covid-19 is surging at an alarming rate across America.
Further down the list as the 22nd and 23rd highest rates, Tennessee and Kentucky had almost identical new-case-per-day rates of 63.1 and 63.2. Their nearby neighbor to the north, Ohio, was just a little bit higher at 64.6. However, Ohio’s nextdoor neighbor to the west, Indiana, was almost 50 percent higher at a rate of 97.2 new cases per day.
Keep in mind that these statistics are all very fluid. It takes only a few days to a week or so for a town or county to go from a low rate to a high rate. About a month ago, Indiana and Maryland had nearly the same new-case rates. Both states have seen increases since then but Indiana’s rate has grown much faster, and on Saturday was at 97.2, almost three times Maryland’s rate of 35.6. This virus is very contagious and fast moving. By the time you read this, numbers will be different everywhere with states — as well as counties within states — constantly trading places on the list of places with the highest case rates.
Maryland’s new-case rate of 35.6 as of Nov. 21 may look good compared to other states. On Saturday, Maryland ranked 38th highest rate among the 56 states and territories. North Dakota’s rate is five times higher. But Maryland is only good in comparison to the states that are currently worse off. The Maryland rate is actually very troubling. Just a few weeks ago, Maryland’s rate was under 20. This Nov. 21 rate represents a sharp increase of 110 percent over the previous two weeks. That’s over twice as many people per day diagnosed with covid-19 as during the previous two weeks. Officials are worried that Maryland is headed in the same direction as the current hotspots. Hospitals in some areas of the state are beginning to feel the pressure.
Much of Maryland’s increase has been on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay with Allegany County as the state’s main hotspot. Allegany had a rate of 145.3 on Nov. 21 — more than double its rate at the end of October. That’s higher than the entire state of Indiana and over four times the Maryland average of 35.6. In fact, if Allegany were a state rather than a county, it would have the second highest covid-19 rate in the U.S., right after North Dakota. Allegany’s rate was almost 50 percent higher than Garrett, the second highest Maryland county at 101.9.
As a whole, the Eastern Shore of Maryland is a mixed bag. Earlier in the fall, the Eastern Shore had a number of hotspots and some of the highest rates in the state. This was especially true for nursing homes as well as crowded meat and poultry processing plants. Since then, all Eastern Shore counties have seen increases in their rates but many other counties have increased faster and now have higher rates. In fact, four of the five lowest rates in the state were Eastern Shore counties. These were Caroline (19.7), Talbot (16.9), Kent (16.2), and Dorchester (15.2). The lowest rate was on the Western Shore in Calvert (15.2).
On the other hand, the third highest rate in the state was 59.7 in Somerset County on the Eastern Shore. While still significantly below Allegany and Garrett counties, Somerset’s rate has more than doubled from what it was at the end of October.
But, as noted before, these rates can change quickly. It’s a roller-coaster ride with hotspots cropping up rapidly in one place, then another.
All of this has resulted in Gov. Larry Hogan tightening the covid-19 restrictions in Maryland. Beginning Nov. 10, new regulations limited indoor gatherings to 25 people and returned all governmental offices to mandatory work-at-home status. Starting Nov. 11, all bars and restaurants can operate at only 50 percent capacity — reduced from 75 percent — and must comply with distanced servicing rules for both customers and staff.
Then on Nov. 20, more restrictions were added, including several to address the special problems of hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities. For the complete text of Maryland’s Nov.10 and Nov. 20 Emergency Orders regarding covid-19, click on the links at the end of this article.
Effective Nov. 20, all bars, restaurants, and other businesses with indoor seating for food and alcohol must close between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Carryout and delivery services may continue. Retail and religious facilities must reduce capacity to 50 percent. No spectators will be allowed at any racetracks or at any professional, school, or other stadium events.
Until further notice, the emergency order prohibits all hospital visitation with some exceptions — including end-of-life care, obstetrics, parents or guardians of minors, and support for people with disabilities. Also, visitation at Maryland nursing homes is limited to compassionate care only, and all visitors must have proof of a negative covid-19 test result within 72 hours before visiting.
Hogan stated that if we want to bring covid-19 under control in Maryland, officials, inspectors, etc., will need to start cracking down on places and persons not complying with these necessary regulations. “We are in a war right now, and the virus is winning,” he said.
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Maryland State and County Covid-19 Statistics as of Nov. 21
The first chart below from the New York Times shows the case rates since the beginning of the pandemic and the daily average of new cases for the week ending Nov. 21. All rates are adjusted per 100,000 population.
Source of above chart: New York Times Covid-19 Interactive Database
The next four charts from the Maryland Department of Health show the total numbers of cases (not rates) and related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and include data by age, gender, and ethnicity.
Source of the above four charts of raw numbers by county, age, gender, and ethnicity: Maryland State Coronavirus Website
Maryland State Emergency Order on Covid-19, Nov 20, 2020
Maryland State Emergency Order on Covid-19, Nov 10, 2020
Jane Jewell is a writer, editor, photographer, and teacher. She has worked in news, publishing, and as the director of a national writer's group. She lives in Chestertown with her husband Peter Heck, a ginger cat named Riley, and a lot of books.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
