MD County Leaders, Baltimore Mayor Press State For More Contact Tracing Data

From Maryland Matters: By Bruce DePuyt; August 18, 2020

County executives from several of Maryland’s largest jurisdictions and the mayor of Baltimore are requesting a more detailed breakdown of the state’s COVID-19 contact tracing program.

In an Aug. 14 letter to Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), the officials said the information will help their health officers plan for the start of the new school year.

The local leaders are seeking:

• How long it takes for lab results to come back for each case that covidLINK, the state’s tracing program, is tracking
• Whether outreach to someone who had contact with a COVID-positive person was done at work, a community event, or a household contact
• The types of work settings where COVID infection occurred or is suspected to have occurred, broken down by jurisdiction
• Tracing information broken down by jurisdiction
• More in-depth questioning of the potential symptoms contact tracers inquire about

The leaders also want the state to provide its coronavirus projections for fall and winter, and they want more insight into the state’s testing plans.

“Specifically, we would like to better understand how the rapid antigen test will be deployed and how these tests will be prioritized amongst jurisdictions,” they wrote.

The letter was signed by Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D), Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young (D), Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. (D), Frederick County Executive Jan H. Gardner (D), Howard County Executive Calvin Ball (D) and Montgomery County Executive Marc B. Elrich (D).

They indicated they would like the requested information to be provided by Aug. 24.

bruce@marylandmatters.org

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