Prince George’s County continues to be the epicenter of Maryland’s coronavirus outbreak, with at least 7,333 confirmed cases and 265 deaths as of May 3, 2020. Statewide, Maryland counted 25,462 cases and 1,182 deaths since the start of the pandemic, with 989 cases and 26 deaths confirmed between May 2 and May 3.
The 20783 ZIP Code, which covers the Prince George’s County neighborhoods of Adelphi, Langley Park and Chillum, has the highest-per-capita rate of confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, a Route 1 Reporter analysis reveals. Using its 2010 Census population numbers of roughly 44,500 residents, 20783’s 817 cases equals a normalized incidence rate of 1,738 cases per 100,000 residents.
It’s important to remember that county and state health officials emphasize we don’t know the full extent of the outbreak in Maryland, so these numbers are considered to be the tip of the iceberg. When reading through this article and its accompanying maps and charts, it’s safe to say you can at the words “at least” before just about any number listed here.
As seen in the slider-map below, over the past week several northern Prince George’s County neighborhoods inside the Beltway saw their cumulative confirmed case counts exceed per-capita rates of 1,000 cases per 100,000 residents.
The 20783 ZIP code also leads Maryland in the ratio of coronavirus cases confirmed in the past two weeks. There, 71 percent – or 580 cases – have been confirmed since April 19, equivalent to 1,304 cases per 100,000 residents. The map below shows the normalized per-capita incidence of conoronavirus cases confirmed in only the past two weeks.
And while most ZIP codes in Maryland have seen persistent increases in the number of coronavirus cases over the past two weeks, there are some areas where the number of new cases is declining. In the map below, we compare ZIP codes by number of new cases confirmed in the 14 days before April 26 against the number of new cases confirmed in the 14 days before May 3. Areas where the two-week population of new cases increased from April 26 to May 3 are colored red. Areas where the two-week population of new cases stayed level (or did not rise above zero) are grey. Areas where the number of new cases decreased over the past 14 days are colored blue.
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