Annapolis Ward 5 Alderman Rodriguez Will Stay Due To Coronavirus

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Due to the new coronavirus, Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley announced that a special election to fill the Ward 5 seat held by Alderman Marc Rodriguez would be delayed. Because of the state of emergency, the special election would have taken place a few weeks after the declaration ended. Rodriguez announced that he would delay his departure from his seat on the City Council.

“As my resignation was previously planned, it obviously wasn’t planned to coincide with a pandemic, with the coronavirus,” Rodriguez told the Capital Gazette. “We had a conversation and given the changing paradigm, and the immediate community needs, we decided to delay it.”

Rodriguez had announced he would resign his seat effective March 27. He shared previously that he had accepted a job offer in Oregon.

Maryland has 57 confirmed cases as of Tuesday morning. Nationwide, the coronavirus has caused at least 94 deaths as of Tuesday, according to a tracker run by Johns Hopkins. A total of more than 5,700 cases have been confirmed in the United States, with more than 194,000 globally. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered casinos, racetracks, bars, restaurants, gyms and movie theaters to be shut down after new coronavirus cases in Maryland doubled this week. Maryland, which is under a state of emergency with all public schools closed for two weeks. Hogan also ordered health officials to open closed hospitals across Maryland to increase the state's capacity by 6,000 beds to meet the demand. Currently, there are 9,000 beds available for acute care.

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