MD Coronavirus Peak Estimate Released By Health Expert

BALTIMORE, MD — The Baltimore-Washington corridor has been designated as a priority area when it comes to battling the new coronavirus, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday afternoon. He said he has been "sounding the alarm" at the federal level about the spread of the virus in the National Capital Region.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence recognized the "Baltimore-Washington corridor as a priority" area, including "hot spots" that demand "urgent federal attention," Hogan said at a news conference in Baltimore, where the National Guard has set up a 250-bed field hospital for recovering coronavirus patients.

These hot spots include 12 Maryland jurisdictions, Hogan said: Baltimore City as well as Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's and Queen Anne's counties.

Maryland has 4,371 coronavirus cases and 103 deaths, according to state health data released Tuesday.

"This virus continues to spread in every jurisdiction in our state, but the concentration of Maryland cases has rapidly intensified, particularly in the Baltimore-Washington corridor," Hogan said.

Nearly 9,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the National Capital Region, he said, where 189 people have died in the past 24 days.

Based on federal models, the peak for the virus in Maryland may occur "sometime soon," according to Dr. Thomas Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"One model that the White House uses has our peak occurring about 10 days from now," Inglesby said on April 7. That was an estimate, he added.

The Maryland peak is projected to be around April 18, Harford County Health Officer Dr. Russell Moy said Tuesday night.

The state is under a stay-at-home order, with Marylanders only to leave their homes for essential jobs or purposes like grocery shopping. How well residents comply will impact the peak.

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Officials said they were preparing for a potential surge at health care facilities.

"We have received ventilators from FEMA," Hogan said, "which are now available for use" at some hospitals around the state. He said that Pence agreed to send 200 ventilators Monday night to Maryland.

"I want to sincerely thank the Trump administration," Hogan said, "for designating the Baltimore-Washington corridor and these 12 Maryland jurisdictions as priority areas."

On Tuesday, California's governor announced his state was shipping 50 ventilators to Maryland.

"Testing continues to be the primary frustration," Hogan said. Most testing, including the rapid testing, is coming "but has not come to either Maryland or just about anywhere else, I don't think," the governor reported. He said he directed the Maryland Department of Health to release all demographic data it can provide publicly about confirmed coronavirus cases but added most tests come from labs out of state that have not been providing that information.

The governor announced several initiatives:

• To protect the state's most vulnerable citizens, strike teams will form to support nursing homes. State and local health officials, National Guard members and hospital personnel will be part of the teams, who will coordinate testing, triage and stabilization at the request of a nursing homes or health departments.
• To enforce social distancing, Hogan issued an executive order empowering local health departments to modify or shut down operations at businesses, establishments and construction sites violating the order to prevent people from gathering and for nonessential businesses to close.
• To address an influx in health care needs, Maryland has 27 newly licensed assisted living programs, 42 sites for individuals with developmental disabilities, 14 clinically licensed laboratories and six residential service agencies, according to Hogan, to protect some of the state's most vulnerable citizens.

The governor said he made 30 or 40 phone calls and spent "a couple of weekends" trying to get federal officials to recognize the Baltimore-Washington area needed resources to combat the virus, particularly because its residents make up a significant part of the federal workforce.

Related: MD Coronavirus: 4,371 Confirmed Cases, 103 Deaths As Of April 7