Ryan Leshko
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Gov. Larry Hogan announced today that he is implementing new statewide restrictions on businesses and social gatherings in an attempt to stem the rising COVID-19 cases in Maryland.
Hogan said that as of 5 p.m. Friday, dine-in service at restaurants, bars, and other establishments such as night clubs, facilities, venues, and social clubs, must be closed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Take-out services and deliveries are not impacted by the order.
In addition, Hogan said retail businesses, organizations, religious institutions, personal services, bingo halls, bowling alleys, pool halls, skating rinks, fitness centers, and social clubs must limit capacity to 50 percent.
In terms of sports, Hogan announced that fans will no longer be permitted at professional and collegiate stadiums, as well as racetracks.
“We have seen widespread failures to follow orders and public health advisories statewide, and again, we are calling on the counties to implement strict enforcement of all existing and new orders and directives to ensure that closures are not required,” Hogan said.
The governor stressed the importance of wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.
“This very simple step of wearing masks continues to be the single best mitigation strategy that we have to fight the virus,” Hogan, a Republican, said.
Bucking members of his own party who have refused to wear masks or claimed that such government restrictions are an assault on their freedom, Hogan added: “This is not a political issue. It’s not a limitation on your right to infect other people, but it is the best way to keep you and your family members safe, keep people out of the hospital, and to save lives.”
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, agreed that these actions need to be data driven to be easily understood.
“You’re seeing is a shift towards using very targeted public health interventions based on data regarding where infections are occurring, and how they’re occurring,” Adalja said during the press conference. “I think that when you look at these, they do appear to be following that model of targeted public health decision guided by public health, based on what we get from case contact investigations, and really trying to target activities that spread the virus versus activities that that are lower risk.”
While discussing the metrics, Hogan pointed out that although the state is doing better than most, Maryland is experiencing “widespread community transmission in every corner of our state.”
Hogan also pointed out the staggering numbers of COVID-19 cases in Maryland, including 13 straight days of more than 1,000 new cases and more than 2,000 new cases that occurred twice in the past week.
Maryland’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 6.85%, which Hogan said included eight straight days with a positivity rate over the 5% threshold the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deems relatively safe during a pandemic.
“This virus has been with us for so long that too many of us have become numb to the staggering, spiking numbers that are being announced every day,” Hogan said. “It does not matter how well we have done for all these months. If we falter now and if we fail to take this seriously, we will look just like those other states and this deadly virus will strengthen its grip on our state and our nation.”
Dr. Thomas Scalea, the physician-in-chief for Shock Trauma at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said the high number of critically ill patients will be taken care of with a new program that is “built on solid triage and disaster management principles.”
“I’m certain that it’ll improve ICU bed flow as we anticipate, as the governor has just told us, a large number of critically ill patients,” Scalea said. “We pray for the best, but we plan for the worst.”
According to the state’s coronavirus dashboard, 4,186 Marylanders have died since the beginning of the pandemic, including 26 yesterday. There are currently 1,046 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state.
Hogan stressed the importance of getting a COVID-19 test to protect family and friends.
“In addition to masks, avoiding crowds, and social distancing, one of the most important things that you can do to protect your friends and family is to get tested for COVID-19,” Hogan said. “If you are a college student planning on returning home, get a test. If you are planning to spend any time around your grandparents, get a test. If you’re returning from any out of state travel, get a test.”
Adalja said people also need to use common sense to protect themselves and others around them.
“My message is that there are common sense interventions that people can take – wearing a mask, avoiding crowded in congregated areas, washing their hands a lot – that will go a long way to stopping this surge from putting hospitals all around the state into crisis or worried about their capacity,” Adalja said. “Because this virus spreads through social interaction, the trajectory is something that humans can influence by their behaviors.”