There Are More Than 1 Million COVID Cases in DMV Area

As of March 1st, 2021, health officials in DC, Maryland, and Virginia have reported over 1 million COVID-19 cases. There have been 577,174 cases in Virginia, 382,702 in Maryland, and 40,684 in DC, according to The Washington Post.

That means that 6 out of every 100 residents of the three states has tested positive in the past year, which is a little bit lower than the national rate of 8 infections per 100 people, and admittedly, DC had the highest per capital case rate in the region at the beginning of the pandemic, but now has the lowest case rate among the three states, followed by Maryland and Virginia.

The rates have been reflecting the number of tests that came back positive and have most likely underrepresented the virus’ actual toll, given that there have been shortages of test kits, testing fatigue, and the virus’ ability to spread to asymptomatic carriers. When you take all that information and remember that widespread layoffs have ravaged the country, you realize how dire the situation really is.

By the end of May, when the area hit 100,000 cases, early victims who contracted the virus said the toll hard to believe. “That number is overwhelming to me,” Capt. Larry Lofland, a D.C. firefighter, said at the time. Nine months later, the figure has multiplied tenfold.