Category: COVID-19

With key statewide health metrics continuing to trend in a positive direction, Governor Larry Hogan today announced additional safe and phased reopenings through Stage Two of the ‘Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery.’

“This truly is one of the most daunting challenges our state has ever faced, but sometimes the worst times have a way of bringing out the very best in Marylanders,” said Governor Hogan. “And while I cannot promise you that we will fully recover from all these problems quickly, I will tell you that together we have faced and overcome daunting challenges before, and that we will get through these tough and difficult times together.”

The state’s critical health metrics continue to trend in a positive direction. Hospitalizations have dropped below 1,000, and to their lowest point in 61 days. ICU beds are also at an eight-week low. The state’s positivity rate has declined to 7.2 percent, and the positivity rate has dropped to single digits in 23 of the state’s 24 jurisdictions.

REOPENINGS EFFECTIVE FRIDAY, JUNE 12 AT 5 PM:
• INDOOR DINING. Restaurants can resume indoor operations at 50 percent capacity, with appropriate distancing, and following strict public health requirements consistent with the CDC, FDA, and the National Restaurant Association. Maryland Department of Health directives.

• OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS. Outdoor amusements and rides, including miniature golf and go-kart tracks, may resume with appropriate health and safety protocols. Capacity restrictions at pools will be increased to 50 percent with strict safety guidelines still in place. Guidelines and best practices.

REOPENINGS EFFECTIVE FRIDAY, JUNE 19 AT 5 PM:
• INDOOR FITNESS ACTIVITIES. After an extra week of sanitization and safety preparations, indoor gyms, martial arts, dance, and other indoor studio fitness activities may begin to safely reopen at 50 percent capacity with strict health, distancing, and sanitization measures. Guidelines and best practices.

• CASINOS, ARCADES, AND MALLS. Casinos, arcades, and malls may also begin to resume operations with strict safety protocols.
SCHOOLS AND CHILD CARE REOPENINGS
• GRADUATION CEREMONIES. The governor is encouraging local school systems to plan and hold safe outdoor graduation ceremonies with appropriate capacity and social distancing measures in place.

• SCHOOL BUILDINGS. School systems may now begin bringing small groups of students and staff into school buildings. School systems are encouraged to prioritize summer instruction for vulnerable populations. All nonpublic special education schools may reopen to serve students with disabilities.

• CHILD CARE PROVIDERS. All child care providers may begin to reopen, and the number of individuals child care providers can have in one room has been expanded to a maximum of 15.

• OUTDOOR HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS. Outdoor high school sports may begin to resume practice and training activities within the same guidelines that were previously announced for youth sports programs.
EXPANDED TESTING IN BALTIMORE CITY. State officials are encouraging anyone who has recently attended peaceful demonstrations to get tested for COVID-19. As part of this effort, beginning next week, the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland National Guard will open multiple high-volume COVID-19 testing sites across Baltimore City, including at the Baltimore Convention Center.

REOPENING GUIDANCE. As additional industries and activities begin to resume, the Maryland Department of Commerce continues to develop and issue guidance and best practices to help businesses reopen safely. These resources are available at open.maryland.gov/backtobusiness.

COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACH. Stage Two will continue to be implemented with a flexible, community-based approach that allows local leaders to allow reopenings at their discretion.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced on Thursday that Baltimore County will be moving into the State of Maryland’s complete stage one. This is after Gov. Larry Hogan announced more openings on Wednesday.

“Having made significant progress in the availability of testing, contact tracing and personal protective equipment, we are prepared to take the next steps in safely reopening our economy. As we align with phase one of Maryland’s re-opening, we remind residents to continue practicing social distancing and encourage those who are high risk to stay at home,” Olszewski said. “Moving forward, we’ll continue to make decisions based on the best information available and in the best interest of our residents.”

County Executive Olszewski will issue an executive order tomorrow stating that effective Friday, May 29, at 5 p.m., Baltimore County will take the following actions:

OUTDOOR DINING: Restaurants and social organizations, including American Legions, VFWs, and Elks Clubs may begin to safely reopen for outdoor dining only. All establishments must follow strict public health requirements consistent with the CDC, FDA, and the National Restaurant Association guidelines.

In accordance with state protocols, restaurants must:
• Ensure patrons are appropriately distanced with no more than six people seated at a table, with the exception of members of the same household.
• Ensure patrons are seated at least six feet away from each other, except for households seated together.
• Use single-use disposable paper menus or sanitize reusable menus between each seating.
• Sanitize outdoor tables and chairs between each customer seating.
• Train staff in current COVID-19 health and workplace guidelines.
• Begin screening procedures including daily temperature checks of all staff.
• Ensure staff wear masks or face coverings when interacting with other employees or patrons.
BALTIMORE COUNTY TEMPORARILY OFFERING CONDITIONAL APPROVAL FOR EXPANDED OUTDOOR TABLE SERVICE

Restaurants already permitted for outdoor seating, may open in accordance with state guidance and restrictions.

To help ensure other County restaurants can open as quickly as possible, Baltimore County will be temporarily offering conditional approval for establishments to provide expanded outdoor table service on their premises.

Beginning tomorrow at 9 a.m., establishments can apply for outdoor table service at baltimorecountymd.gov/outdoortables. The County will conditionally approve all applications upon submission, until further notice. Businesses must still follow all requirements of applicable Executive Orders, and requirements and guidance issued by local, state and federal authorities.

This temporary waiver of prior approval does not apply to the Tent Permit. For safety reasons, all tents must be approved in advance and businesses must have a valid tent permit prior to erecting tents or canopies.

Baltimore County will continue to work with communities to identify alternative and creative models including closing of streets and expanding into parking lots and public outdoor spaces and will announce next steps in the coming days.

DRIVE-IN MOVIE THEATERS: may reopen with appropriate health and safety guidelines. Olszewski had previously called on the state of Maryland to allow Bengie’s Drive-in to reopen.

YOUTH SPORTS. In line with the state guidance, outdoor youth sports may resume, following all appropriate CDC guidelines and state requirements.

YOUTH DAY CAMPS. Outdoor activities at youth day camps may resume in line with state requirements and guidance.

OUTDOOR POOLS. Outdoor pools may reopen with strict safety guidelines and in line with state requirements.

Additionally, County Executive Olszewski announced today that Baltimore County will align other requirements for retail, houses of worship and barbershops with current state thresholds:

RETAIL STORES will be able to further reopen for in-store retail up to 50 percent capacity, including staff. This applies to all retail establishments outside of those considered essential under the state’s orders. Curbside pickup and delivery remain strongly encouraged, and all public health precautions should remain in place. Shopping malls must continue to stay closed except for retail establishments that can be accessed from the outside.

BARBERSHOPS AND HAIR SALONS may further reopen with up to 50 percent capacity, including staff. They may operate by appointment only and with appropriate health and safety guidelines. Under state order, other personal services establishments must remain closed until further notice.

CHURCHES AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP may hold indoor religious services with up to 50 percent capacity, including staff. Outdoor and virtual services remain strongly encouraged. Religious leaders should do everything possible to keep their congregants safe.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced that the state will be taking steps to reopen more businesses such as outdoor dining, outdoor pools and youth camps.

“Over the past two weeks, we have been encouraged by the successful Stage One reopenings all across the state and by the improvements in important data and metrics statewid,” Hogan said.

“All of this progress allows us to now safely move forward with the completion of Stage One of our recovery plan”

Starting Friday May 29th at 5 p.m., restaurants and social organizations such as American Legions, VFW’s, and Elks Clubs will be permitted to begin safely reopening for outdoor dining, following strict public health requirements consistent with the CDC, FDA, and the National Restaurant Association.

Also effective at 5 p.m, on Friday, many other outdoor activities such as youth sports activities and outdoor activities at youth day camps may resume with safety measures in place for staff and participants.

Hogsn added that outdoor pools can reopen with strict safety guidelines

Drive-in movie theaters will also be permitted to safely reopen.

“Our Coronavirus Recovery Team will be continuing to watch all of the data very closely, and if these encouraging trends continue into next week, we would then be in a position to begin entering Stage Two of our recovery by allowing other non-essential businesses to begin reopening,” Hogan said.

For more information go to, https://governor.maryland.gov/2020/05/27/governor-hogan-announces-resumption-of-outdoor-dining-additional-activities-to-complete-stage-one-of-recovery/“>

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski today announced actions to protect residents and communities and minimize the spread of COVID-19.

“Jurisdictions like Baltimore County must do what’s in the best interest of our communities with the health and safety of our residents at the top of that list,” Olszewski said. “After examining the available data and consulting with our public health team, it’s clear that we are not yet in a position to safely move toward a significant reopening.”

County Executive Olszewski will issue an executive order tomorrow stating that effective Friday, May 15, at 5 p.m., Baltimore County will take the following actions:

Prohibition of 10 or More Extended
County Executive Olszewski’s executive action to prohibit gatherings or events to 10 or more people at all locations and venues will remain in place.

Retail Stores Curbside Pickup
County Executive Olszewski announced that retail stores that were previously closed in Baltimore County may reopen for curbside pickup and delivery only. There will be no in-store retail permitted aside from those retail establishments already considered essential. Shopping malls must continue to stay closed. All public health precautions should remain in place during pickup and delivery.

Remaining Manufacturing to Reopen
Under Maryland’s previous orders, the vast majority of manufacturing firms in Baltimore County were considered essential and remained open. Beginning Friday at 5 p.m., the remaining manufacturing operations—most of them small businesses—may resume operations in a safe manner which protects the health of employees, with guidelines encouraging multiple shifts and other safety precautions.

In-Person Religious Institutions Remain Closed
Until further notice, religious institutions may not begin holding worship services and ceremonies indoors. The restriction on gatherings of more than 10 people remains in place—and those restrictions will continue to apply to religious gatherings.

Personal Services Remain Closed
Until further notice, all personal services establishments, including barbershops, nail salons, and hair salons, must remain closed.

Residents Should Continue to Stay Home
Residents and visitors to Baltimore County should continue to stay at home unless they are traveling to work or medical appointments, shopping for groceries or picking up other retail goods, or traveling to outdoor recreational opportunities. Older and more vulnerable residents are strongly advised to continue staying home as much as possible.

Residents and visitors should practice safe physical distancing and wear masks in public, and frequently wash their hands and sanitize high-touch areas.

Employers should continue to encourage telework for their employees when possible. Individuals who can work from home should continue to do so.

The Baltimore County Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 testing site at the Dundalk Health Center (7700 Dunmanway Baltimore, Maryland 21222) to help meet the need for expanded testing.

The new clinic offers 50 slots per day and is the County’s second walk-up clinic, as well as the first County-operated testing site in Eastern Baltimore County.

“Additional testing capacity is critical to keeping County residents safe as we continue responding to this pandemic, and is a necessary condition for opening back up,” County Executive Johnny Olszewski said.

“This new site gives us even more capacity to perform tests in communities across Baltimore County.”

“Alongside social distancing and contact tracing, test sites are a very important tool in our arsenal against this pandemic,” said County Health Officer Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch. “We want to ensure that all of our neighborhoods have access to available testing.”

This is the fourth testing site in Baltimore County. As with all other County testing locations, patients must first get authorization from a healthcare provider to be tested. Once authorization is obtained, the person to be tested must schedule an appointment using the state-designated Chesapeake Regional Information System (CRISP) and will be able to select one of the following test locations:

Walk-up
Dundalk Health Center
7700 Dunmanway, Dundalk, Maryland 21222
Mondays by appointment only

Liberty Family Resource Center
3525 Resource Drive, Randallstown, Maryland 21133
Mondays by appointment only

Drive-through
Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium
2200 York Road, Timonium, Maryland 21093
Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment only

Maryland Vehicle Emissions Program (VEIP)
11510 Cronridge Drive, Owings Mills, Maryland 21117
Wednesdays and Fridays by appointment only

People arriving at any of the test sites without an order from a healthcare provider and a pre-scheduled appointment will not be tested.

Tested individuals will receive post-test instructions at the clinic and most test results will be available within two days.

Persons coming for testing are asked to adhere to recommendations and safety guidelines, including wearing face coverings, observing social distancing and following post-test instructions received at the sites.

More Information
For questions and additional information, call the Baltimore County COVID-19 hotline seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 410-887-3816.

The Maryland Department of Health released a new set of stats on the outbreak of COVID-19 that included more of a breakdown to include zip codes last week. Stats are released everyday at 10 a.m.

According to the state’s daily numbers for April 12, the highest level of the cornavirus is still in the 21215 zip code in Arlington, which encompasses both western Baltimore City and Baltimore County. There have been 265 coronavirus cases recorded in the 21215 zip code after there were a reported 137 cases last week. That is an increase of 93.5 percent since Sunday, April 12.

Eastern Baltimore County
After a seven-day period, here is the latest cases in the eastern Baltimore County zip codes since Sunday, April 19 at 10 a.m. Every zip code that had a reported cases last week all saw an increase in cases over the week, but some areas had higher increases than other zip codes.

* The 21234 Parkville zip code was reported last week with the highest coronavirus cases in eastern Baltimore County with 109 cases. Parkville still has the most in the area with 169 cases. That is a 55 percent increase.

* The 21224 zip code had 84 cases as of last week and that has grown to 136 COVID-19 cases. It is still important to point out that a majority of that zip code is in Baltimore City with a portion of Baltimore County that includes the Eastwood and Colgate communities.

* The Overlea 21206 zip code saw a jump from 89 to 124 cases over the week. That was a 39.5 percent increase over last week.

* The Dundak area (21222) went from 55 to 83 COVID-19 cases. That was an almost 50 percent increase.

* It appears that the 21237 Rosedale zip code nearly doubled in reported cases as it went from 37 to 71 cases in just one week. That was a 92 percent increase over that week.

* The 21220 Middle River zip code saw a 64 percent increase as cases went from 36 to 59.

* The 21236 Nottingham zip code (not to be confused with the 21128 Perry Hall zip code) had a report of 40 cases and only saw an increase of 42.5 percent to 57 cases.

* The 21128 Perry Hall zip code was reported with 16 cases last week and had a reported four more cases to bring the total to 20 cases.

* Essex coronavirus cases went from 35 to 54 in the 21221 zip code.

* The 21219 Edgemere/Sparrows Point area zip code remained low from nine to 12 cases over the week.

* There still has not been any reported cases in White Marsh (21162) or Kingsville (21087) of COVID-19.

These rankings and cases were based on the amount of people that tested positive for the coronavirus. Baltimore County had 1,392 cases as of Sunday morning. There have been 44 deaths in Baltimore County, but there is no zip code breakdown of deaths as a result of COVID-19 at this time.

For the full listing, go to coronavirus.maryland.gov