MD Coronavirus: Plans For Slow Reopening Being Made, Hogan Says

MARYLAND — Plans to gradually ease coronavirus restrictions will be made public next week, but Maryland has not yet hit its coronavirus infection peak, Gov. Larry Hogan said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. Until that peak has passed, and state officials have the test kits and medical staffing to administer 10,000 tests a day, the state can't relax orders requiring Marylanders to stay at home, he said.

To continue fighting the spread of the virus, Hogan on Wednesday signed a new executive order requiring face masks to be worn in any retail business — groceries, pharmacies and other essential businesses — and when riding on any public transit service. Businesses must require workers to wear masks and practice social distancing.

The order takes effect at 7 a.m. Saturday. (Watch a replay of the press conference via a link at the bottom of this story).

Four counties that are coronavirus hotspots — Anne Arundel, Prince George's, Montgomery and Charles — are already requiring face masks or coverings. Hogan has commended those actions.

Wearing masks or cloth face coverings may be something residents have to become accustomed to for the state's recovery, Hogan said. And while everyone wants life to return to normal, and the economy to recover, it is too soon to allow any resumption of normal activities.

“The worst possible thing we could do is to take actions too quickly and then have that spike so we look like New York, and we have thousands of people die and hundreds of thousands of people sick and we overload our hospital systems, because then it’s very hard to get that genie back in the bottle,” Hogan said.

He said four elements are crucial to the state's recovery plan:

1. Expanding testing capacity
2. Increasing hospital surge capacity
3. Ramping up supply of PPE
4. Building a robust contact tracing operation

Early projections from Johns Hopkins experts said that without drastic actions this pandemic would infect nearly 360,000 Maryland residents and kill 12,000 people by June 1. Because the state took early and aggressive actions to prevent Maryland from becoming "the next New York or Italy," officials are optimistic a gradual rollout of the recovery phase can be outlined.

"There is clearly a light at the end of this tunnel, but how and when we get to that light is up to each and every one of us," the governor said. "Right now it is absolutely critical for Marylanders to stay home, avoid crowds and practice social distancing."

For the latest on the new coronavirus in Maryland, get Patch news alerts.

Officials say 10,032 people in Maryland have tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, an increase of 560 cases in 24 hours.

For the first time on Wednesday, the Maryland Department of Health began putting deaths into two categories: confirmed deaths and probable deaths.

A probable death means the death certificate lists COVID-19 as a cause of death, but a laboratory test is still required to confirm it.

As of Wednesday morning, Maryland has 349 confirmed deaths — an increase of 47 from the previous day. The number of probable deaths: 64.

Officials say a total of 2,231 people have been hospitalized in Maryland from COVID-19 since the outbreak began, the Maryland Department of Health reported as of Wednesday, April 15.

This has been the deadliest 48 hours to date for the coronavirus epidemic in the state.

While cases and hospitalizations are increasing, they are at a much lower rate than they would have been without school and business closures, and a stay-at-home order, he said.

Progress is being made, Hogan said, as hospitalization rates show possible signs of stabilizing. In addition, surge capacity in hospitals, testing kits and personal protective equipment supplies have all ramped up. Contact tracing teams are having more success because people are staying home.

Deputy Secretary of Health Fran Phillips said health investigators who track down the disease are finding the circle of contacts who may be exposed to the virus are smaller because many patients have limited their contact to household members.

"We are in this for a very long time, we will prevail, we will get past this virus. … This is a moment to stay home, but as the governor has said we are starting to see progress," Phillips said.

Additional federal action and assistance is needed right now if the governors are going to continue leading on this battle, Hogan said.

He will speak again with the nation's governors, President Donald Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday.

States face budget cuts and layoffs that could harm their recovery and limit efforts to get people back to work unless more federal aid is approved, the governor said.

"We've asked the Trump Administration to break this logjam in the U.S. Senate… to get our economies back on track," Hogan said.

Hogan issued a stay-at-home order March 30 that says residents should only leave their homes for an essential job or for an essential purpose such as grocery shopping.

Maryland officials ordered schools closed on March 16, and non-essential services were ordered closed March 23. Hogan has not banned travel, although he said anyone who has been outside of the state should self-quarantine for 14 days. School closures were extended through April 24.

All of Hogan's emergency orders and proclamations are available here. For health resources, including case counts and clinician guidance, visit coronavirus.maryland.gov.

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