Maryland reports continued decline in new coronavirus cases; winter storm likely to lower numbers in the days ahead

Maryland health officials reported 986 new cases of the coronavirus Thursday, and 30 more deaths caused by the virus. The number of new daily cases has declined significantly since mid-January, when the state was averaging more than 3,000 new cases each day after the holidays. The daily total has been below 1,000 since Sunday. The state’s seven-day average testing positivity rate declined for the ninth straight day to 4.13% Thursday, down from 4.17% Wednesday.