Category: COVID-19

Mikea Hugley, graduate of Overlea High School and a visual arts teacher at Milford Mill Academy, has been named one of eight finalists in the Maryland Institute College of Art’s (MICA) UP/Start Venture Competition for her project called “Makers for Humankind.”

The UP/Start Venture Competition, now in its fifth year, is an initiative of MICApreneurship and the newly created Ratcliffe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship, and focuses on incubating and building creative business ventures within the MICA community. The finalists are competing for seed funding totaling $100,000, funded by the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation, as well as a $5,000 People’s Choice Award — which the public can vote for online now through April 24.

According to MICA’s website: “Makers for Humankind’s mission is to develop accessible footwear that bridges the gap between the fortunate and less fortunate and many stigmas that plague society. Its signature shoe, the ‘HM1’s,’ is an all-in-one shoe, both sneaker and sandal.”

Hugley’s plan for her company is to donate 10 percent of its proceeds to benefit those in the unhoused population who suffer from the lack of proper footwear.

Hugley is a first-year teacher at Milford Mill Academy. She studied design and art at the Community College of Baltimore County and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from MICA. As the founder of the design company CRE8T1V3, she has worked on media projects for the Maryland Health Connection, Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and other businesses, artists, and authors. Before joining the Milford Mill Academy staff, Hugley was a long-term substitute graphic design teacher at Overlea High.

The eight UP/Start Venture Competition finalists were selected from a pool of 37 applicants, all students or alumni of the classes of 2019 and 2020.

After selection, finalists were paired with industry leaders or investors as mentors to refine their business plans and presentation skills. They also received website development support from Wix and peer mentorship from past UP/Start winners in the weeks leading up to final presentations, which took place on April 14.

Winners of the venture capital and the People’s Choice Award will be announced after Friday, April 24. Finalists who do not receive funding from the judges will receive $500 stipends to continue advancing their ideas.

In an effort to keep pace with the demand for COVID-19 testing, the Baltimore County Department of Health will open a drive-through clinic to test patients who have a medical order from a healthcare provider.

The clinic will be located at the Timonium Fairgrounds (2200 York Road, Timonium, Maryland 21093) and will open on Thursday, April 16. Testing will continue to occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays while test kits are available.

“Our response to this pandemic must include every effort possible to help reduce the spread of the virus and save lives, and testing is a critical component of those efforts,” said County Executive Johnny Olszewski.

“Increasing testing capacity in Baltimore County is part of our comprehensive effort to keep our residents safe and healthy during this crisis.”

“In a matter of weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed life, as we know it,” said Baltimore County Health Officer Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch. “Providing a testing clinic at this location will allow for both efficiency and safety, and is another example of Baltimore County working to meet the changing landscape brought about by this pandemic.”
Increased access to testing is a priority in helping to prevent the spread of the virus. The fairgrounds are easily accessible and able to accommodate multiple lanes of vehicles at once. Additionally, patients will not have to leave their vehicles during the testing process.

Schedule an Appointment
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). Tested individuals will receive post-test instructions at the clinic and test results will be available within five to seven days.
People arriving at the site without an order from a healthcare provider and/or without a pre-scheduled appointment will not be tested.

COVID-19 Hotline
Residents with questions or who need assistance can call the Baltimore County COVID-19 Hotline seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 410-887-3816.

Baltimore County Government has created an app with information about COVID-19.

The dashboard covers all the cases of the coronavirus throughout the county. It has a list of the cases in each Baltimore County by zip code. The app also breaks down each case by race, gender and age.

According to the first version on the county’s dashboard, 59.13 percent of the county cases have been female with 40.87 percent of cases listed as male.

The stats by race show African Americans with 555 cases, Caucasians with 417 and Asians with 31 cases. There were 224 cases listed as “other” and 148 cases were listed with no race reported.

The Dashboard listed that there have been 1,377 confirmed cases and 41 deaths as a result of the virus in Baltimore County. The site also lists the state of Maryland with 9,472 cases and 302 deaths.

The Maryland Department of Health released their daily stats of the outbreak of COVID-19 but Gov. Larry Hogan said the state is now releasing more of a breakdown by including zip codes.

According to the state’s daily numbers for April 12, the highest level of the cornavirus is in the 21215 zip code in Arlington, which encompasses both western Baltimore City and Baltimore County. There have been 137 cases recorded.

The next three highest zip codes came from the Silver Spring area out of Montgomery County. The 20904 zip code has 132 cases, 20906 had 126 cases and 20902 had 125 cases.

Eastern Baltimore County
* The most reported cases since the start of the cornavirus pandemic in eastern Baltimore County is the 21234 Parkville zip code with 109 cases. Parkville has the ninth highest amount of cases in the state per zip code.

* The Overlea 21206 zip code ranked 17th in the state with 89 cases.

* The 21224 zip code had 84 cases to rank 22nd. The majority of that zip code is in Baltimore City with a small portion in the Eastwood and Colgate communities.

* The Dundak area (21222) is 49th in the state with 55 cases.

* The 21236 Nottingham zip code (not to be confused with the 21128 Perry Hall zip code) had a report of 40 cases to rank 77th in the state.

* The 21128 zip code was reported with 16 cases, which was out of the top 100 statewide.

* Rosedale was an overall 86th statewide with 37 cases in the 21237 zip code.

* Middle River and neighboring Essex areas were ranked 93th and 94th statewide. The 21220 zip code had 36 cases and 21221 had 35 cases of the cornavirus.

* The Edgemere/Sparrows Point area has nine cases as the 21219 zip code was also ranked outside the top 100.

* There were no reported cases in White Marsh (21162) or Kingsville (21087) zip codes.

These rankings and cases were based on the amount of people that tested positive for the coronavirus. Baltimore County had 1,257 cases as of Sunday morning. There have been 30 deaths in Baltimore County, but there is no zip code breakdown of deaths as a result of COVID-1 at this time.

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

County Executive Johnny Olszewski will host two Virtual Town Hall Meetings to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and the Fiscal Year 2021 budget. Olszewski, Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch, Director of the Baltimore County Department of Health and Human Services and Health Officer, Police Chief Melissa Hyatt and Fire Chief Joanne Rund, and other County officials for the first town hall on Thursday, April 2 at 6 p.m. This town hall will provide updates on the County’s COVID-19 response and answer questions and concerns from Baltimore County residents.

Residents can stream Thursday’s COVID-19 Virtual Town Hall at baltimorecountymd.gov/townhallbaltimorecountymd.gov/townhallbaltimorecountymd.gov/townhall. Residents can also call in at 833-946-1803. Residents are encouraged to submit questions in advance of the Virtual Town Hall by sending an email to townhall@baltimorecountymd.gov.

The next town will be held next week on Tuesday, April 6 at 6 p.m. Olszewski will join County Councilmembers to provide another opportunity for residents to share their thoughts, ideas and priorities for the FY21 budget.

This meeting will provide a forum for public discussion focused on future budget priorities. County Executive Olszewski will be joined by Council Chair Cathy Bevins, Councilman David Marks, and Councilman Tom Quirk—representatives from the council districts for which in-person town hall meetings were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Residents can join the 2020 Budget Virtual Town Hall online here or at baltimorecountymd.gov/townhall. Residents can also call in at +1-415-655-0001. Access code: 472 548 188. Residents can submit questions during the town hall in the Virtual Town Hall application, or by sending an email to townhall@baltimorecountymd.gov All town hall meetings will be recorded and posted on the County’s website.

Olszewski is required by law to submit his FY21 budget to the Baltimore County Council by April 15, 2020. Sign language interpreters and other accommodations can be arranged upon request by contacting: townhall@baltimorecountymd.govtownhall@baltimorecountymd.govtownhall@baltimorecountymd.gov. Information for Baltimore County’s town halls is available at www.baltimorecountymd.gov/townhallwww.baltimorecountymd.gov/townhallwww.baltimorecountymd.gov/townhall