Baltimore Mayor Declares State Of Emergency: Coronavirus

BALTIMORE, MD — Baltimore City is under a local state of emergency due to the new coronavirus outbreak, according to Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young, who issued the declaration Wednesday. The declaration enables the city to draw upon state and federal resources as it responds to the public health issue.

"This declaration will help speed up the process of procuring goods and services needed to support and protect the residents of Baltimore City," Young said, and "help remove roadblocks and speed up our ability locally to quickly and forcefully respond to the changing threats from COVID-19."

Given the health crisis the community is now facing, Young called for an end to violence.

"We will not stand for mass shootings and the increase in crime. We will not stand for this level of violence," Young said. "We're dealing with the COVA virus, and those of you who want to continue to shoot and kill people in this city, we're not going to tolerate it. We're going to come after you, and we're going to get you."

Young said he instructed Police Commissioner Michael Harrison to "do everything in his power" to combat the violence.

Seven people were shot in the Madison Park neighborhood Tuesday night and are in serious but stable condition Wednesday, according to Harrison. He said there had been a rise in violent crime since Friday and called the violence "unacceptable," a term the mayor also used.

"We cannot clog up our hospitals or their beds with people who are being shot senselessly, because we are going to need those beds for people who might be infected with the COVA virus, or the coronavirus," Young said. "It could be your mother, your grandmother or one of your relatives. So take that into consideration and put down the guns."

The local state of emergency order took effect at 12:01 p.m. Wednesday, March 18. City government remains open, according to Young, who said the emergency operations center was also fully operational.

Signing the local emergency declaration "helps unite us with our surrounding counties," Young said, emphasizing the need for those across jurisdictions to work together to combat the illness.

"The best thing Baltimoreans can do today is stay home," Young said. "These next two weeks are not a vacation for our youth out of school or our residents sent home from work. This is not the time to hang out with family or friends."

The city's health commissioner reiterated the need for people to do their part in minimizing the illness by staying a healthy distance from one another, alerting officials who were standing next to one another at the news conference they needed to put six feet of space between them.

"Social distancing is the most important step everyone in our community can take at this time to decrease the number of people who become ill," Baltimore Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa, M.D., said.

Five people in Baltimore City have tested positive for the new coronavirus, and all are in good to stable condition, according to the health commissioner.

Two are older adults — one in their 60s and one in their 70s, according to Dzirasa. The other three are younger adults in their 20s, she said.

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Health officials advise doing the following to stop the spread of the virus:

• Stay home when you are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

The mayor of Baltimore ordered the city to operate under a state of emergency one week after the World Health Organization announced it now considers the global outbreak to be a "pandemic." The pandemic declaration refers to the scope of the new coronavirus — but not its severity — and means it has become a "worldwide spread of a new disease."

The state of Maryland is continuing to operate under a state of emergency, which Gov. Larry Hogan declared March 5 upon the first confirmation of the new coronavirus in Maryland. See the governor's coronavirus page for a list of ongoing state actions taken since then.

See Also:

• Baltimore Coronavirus Case Was Community Transmission: Officials
• 3 Have New Coronavirus; MD Governor Declares State Of Emergency