Prince George's County remains among the top 50 U.S. counties for coronavirus infections, but County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said at a press conference Thursday that there are signs that metrics are improving.
Although many have recovered, nearly 20,000 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in the county since the beginning of the outbreak. Ten thousand people alone were diagnosed during the week of June 21.
We were hit hard, but it is not because we are a majority-black county
Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks
Alsobrooks also pointed to the high number of "imported COVID-19 cases" as a contributing factor to Prince George's high infection count. According to data from the University of Maryland, nearly 80,000 infectious persons from outside the state or the county visited Prince George's County in the month of June.
Even though there have been an "inordinate" amount of visitors, but Prince George's remains among the top 3% for social distancing in the country, Alsobrooks said.
"We were hit hard, but it is not because we are a majority-black county... It's also not because we are a large Latino population or because we somehow disregarded the safety precautions. None of those things are true," Alsobrooks said.
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"Instead, what we know is that our county is dense and urban. We house one of the largest segments of the federal workforce. Along with a good number of our residents are essential workers.”
The county's positivity rate has continued to decline from an all-time high of 43% in April to 6% Thursday. Much of that is to do with increased testing capacity.
Prince George's County now has the capacity to administer roughly 10,000 tests per week. "We really are pleased with how far we've come," Alsobrooks said.
"Prince Georgians have made sure that we have cared for each other, that we covered our faces... there were many sacrifices," Alsobrooks said. "We now have the data to show that Prince Georgians have each other's backs."
Coronavirus Cases in DC, Maryland and Virginia
COVID-19 cases by population in D.C. and by county in Maryland and Virginia
Source: DC, MD and VA Health Departments
Credit: Anisa Holmes / NBC Washington
