MD Lawmaker Pledges To Provide Oversight Around Coronavirus Data

MARYLAND — Each week on Wednesdays, officials release coronavirus data from congregate living facilities like nursing homes and state-run detention centers in Maryland. State lawmakers are calling that into question.

While zero youths have tested positive for the coronavirus at state-run detention centers and group homes in Maryland as of Wednesday, Senate President Bill Ferguson said there were "recent concerns about juvenile facilities" around testing and data at congregate living facilities as a whole.

Lawmakers at the state level would be working with the administration "to exercise the oversight responsibility we have as elected officials," Ferguson said.

While the governor's office announced May 20 that universal testing would be available at state-run correctional facilities, Ferguson hinted that may not be the case.

"It looks like there's still some serious work that has to be done to make sure that that has been fully implemented," Ferguson said at the Joint COVID-19 Response Legislative Workgroup.

Of 13 state-run facilities for juveniles, staff had only been tested at three and juveniles had been tested at five, WYPR reported June 21. Officials told the radio station the plan was to have all tested by the end of July.

Legislative subcommittees within the Maryland General Assembly were also looking at the "accuracy or validity of some of the data that is being reported" around nursing homes, Ferguson said.

The Maryland Department of Health has scrubbed nursing home data from its website every two weeks, making it "difficult to calculate cumulative totals," according to the Baltimore Sun, which said state health officials had also "reported case and death counts for some facilities under slightly different names" and provided erroneous information.

"It makes no sense," Delegate Shade Pendergrass told the Sun.

"Transparency is more important than ever right now," Ferguson said Wednesday at the meeting of the COVID-19 workgroup, which was livestreamed. "People need to be able to trust those numbers."

There are 65,337 confirmed cases of the virus in the state, the Maryland Department of Health said Wednesday.

Of those, more than 12,400 are within congregate living facilities like nursing homes and over 1,200 are in detention centers and state-run institutions, state health officials said Wednesday.

Overall 1,880 people in nursing homes, group homes and assisted living facilities have died from the virus, and 2,978 people overall in Maryland have, meaning nursing home residents account for about 63 percent of the state's deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

A key to stopping the spread of the virus is testing, experts say.

"We have now tested more than 8 percent of our population statewide for #COVID19 as counties continue to expand access for Marylanders," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement Wednesday. He said there are more than 170 places statewide to get tested for the virus.

See an interactive map of COVID-19 testing sites in Maryland.

A total of 425,120 negative test results have been recorded in the state, officials said Wednesday.

In the past day, 330 people tested positive for the coronavirus in Maryland, where approximately 8,870 negative test results were also reported.

The positivity rate in the state is 5.17 percent on a rolling, seven-day average, according to state officials, which is an increase of 0.11 since Tuesday.

In the past week, there have been 112 deaths statewide from the virus, according to state health data. Of those, 50 were in nursing homes.

Coronavirus In Group Living Facilities

Every Wednesday, the Maryland Department of Health reports the latest data from congregate living facilities. Here is the information as of Wednesday, June 24:

This is an increase of 294 confirmed cases of the virus in nursing homes, group homes and assisted living facilities week to week. State and local facilities saw an increase of 130 cases since last week.

There have been 50 additional deaths in nursing homes, group homes and assisted living facilities since last week, the data shows.

Coronavirus in Maryland: A Snapshot

Here is a look at Maryland's coronavirus numbers as of Wednesday, June 24:

Hospitalizations And Deaths

Maryland Coronavirus Cases By Jurisdiction

Maryland Coronavirus Cases By Age And Gender

Maryland Coronavirus Cases By Race And Ethnicity

See Also:

• 'Step Up' Coronavirus Testing, MD Officials Urge Local Leaders
  
• 65K Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus In MD: Health Department
• Nursing Home Residents Can Have Outside Visitors
• Indoor Dining, Gyms, Malls: Hogan Outlines MD Stage 2 Reopening
• Get Tested For Coronavirus, MD Governor Tells Protesters
• 'Maryland Did Well' In Its Response To The Coronavirus Pandemic: Fauci