'Our State Is In A Dangerous Place': MD Coronavirus Expert

MARYLAND — More people are hospitalized in Maryland due to the coronavirus than at any other point during the pandemic, according to Gov. Larry Hogan.

"Sadly, as we anticipated, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Maryland are now at an all-time high," Hogan said in a statement Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Currently 1,715 people are in Maryland hospitals with the virus, state health officials reported Wednesday, an addition of 62 patients in the last 24 hours.

As hospitalizations surge, leaders of the state's largest jurisdictions — Baltimore City as well as Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties — met at 2 p.m. Wednesday for a virtual news conference to discuss the COVID-19 surge and call for unified action to protect public health.

“We’re seeing astronomical case rates from western Maryland to the Eastern Shore and everywhere in between,” Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said at the briefing.

Hospitals are stretched thin, according to Dr. Gail Cunningham of the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson.

"Across almost every hospital in our system, they are almost to capacity," Cunningham said. "It's not sustainable."

If nothing is done, 10,000 hospital beds may be required to handle the surge, with only 8,000 available in the state, according to Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman.

"That's a pretty scary thought, and I think that's why all of us are talking about further restrictions," Pittman said, noting he will announce further restrictions Thursday for Anne Arundel County.

“Our state is in a dangerous place in this pandemic,” Dr. Thomas Inglesby of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said on the virtual news conference.

“It’s critical to slow the spread of this virus down,” Inglesby said. “It will take months for substantial numbers of people to get vaccinated and months for the vaccine to have an impact on the rate of the spread” of the virus in the state. He encouraged people to avoid large gatherings and elected officials to close venues that could attract groups.

Baltimore City, Montgomery County Plan To Restrict Dining

To prevent hospitals from being overburdened and to slow the spread of the virus, Baltimore leaders on Wednesday announced new restrictions taking effect Friday night in the city, including prohibiting indoor and outdoor dining at restaurants and bars, closing theaters and reducing capacity limits at other establishments. These new measures take effect at 5 p.m. Friday.

"We must act now," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said on Wednesday afternoon's virtual media briefing. "This is about saving lives."

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said he has proposed similar restrictions, including closing indoor dining and limiting capacity at larger retail stores.

The Democrat said he has sent his proposal to the Montgomery County Council. If approved, restrictions will take effect on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

"My cases per 100,000 are six, seven, eight times as high as they were this summer," said Elrich, whose jurisdiction has seen more deaths than any other in Maryland, with 956 as of Wednesday.

Currently, indoor dining is allowed, but with restrictions. If Elrich's proposal gets the green light, county restaurants will not be allowed to serve indoor diners. Outdoor dining, carryout, and delivery — however — will still be allowed.

Elrich also wants to limit capacity in large retail stores to one person per 200 square feet (capped at a total of 150 people).

Indoor gatherings will be restricted to 10 people, while the limit on outdoor gatherings will remain at 25 people. Religious organizations can have 25 people outdoors without county approval. They can host larger gatherings if they get the county's approval.

Non-professional sports will be limited to 10 people indoors.

Prince George's County Executive: 'Coronavirus Does Not Know Borders'

As one of the hardest hit jurisdictions in Maryland, Prince George's County took restrictive measures before Thanksgiving, such as limiting capacities at restaurants and bars and requiring masks in all public spaces.

Coronavirus positivity rates are greater than 10 percent in some parts of the county, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said on the virtual news conference Wednesday.

“We know that these restrictions are difficult,” not only for residents but for businesses, she said, encouraging people to "make those responsible decisions."

Prince George's County has more cases than any jurisdiction in Maryland, with more than 45,000. As data comes in from the most recent holiday, officials say the virus has continued to spread.

She said the primary superspreader has been families.

“What we know is that the Thanksgiving holiday demonstrated to us … those personal gatherings are very, very dangerous," Alsobrooks said. "Coronavirus does not know borders. It is traveling throughout our state, and it is incumbent on all of us” to stop its spread.

She encouraged people to limit travel when not necessary.

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Health Care Workers In Demand

With health experts predicting the virus will worsen in the weeks and months ahead, the governor announced last week that Maryland was ramping up efforts to staff hospitals.

"We can expect to reach a new record high for hospitalizations in the coming days," Hogan said at a news conference Dec. 1.

One week later, his prediction came true. Since then, 132 people have been hospitalized with the virus in Maryland, and the governor said the number was likely to climb even higher.

"We have to get about three and a half weeks away from Thanksgiving and it will get worse," Hogan said at a news conference Dec. 8. "The modeling shows all of December and January looks pretty rough, which is why we put so much emphasis on hiring additional health care personnel, taking care of people until we can get extra hospital beds."

On Dec. 1, the governor announced Maryland was looking to prepare for the surge by filling 2,000 to 3,000 health care positions.

"We have received an enthusiastic response to our call for medical staffing search," Hogan said Tuesday, reporting that in the week since his announcement, 4,268 prospects have signed up to work at Maryland hospitals, nursing homes, testing sites and vaccination clinics. He encouraged people who are interested to visit marylandmednow.com.

As of Tuesday, he said 87 percent of beds in intensive care units were occupied in Maryland hospitals, and 142 surge beds were in use at the Baltimore Convention Center field hospital, the reopened Laurel Hospital and the expanded Washington hospital.

More than 222,000 people have tested positive for the virus in Maryland, where the positivity rate is 7.74 percent as of Wednesday, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

"It is clear that our worst days of this pandemic are still yet to come in the weeks and months ahead," Hogan said Tuesday at a news conference where he said the state anticipated getting 155,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine in Maryland next week.

"The cavalry is coming," Hogan said. "A vaccine is on the way, but it is absolutely critical that we continue to fight this virus with everything we've got."

Here is a look at Maryland's coronavirus data as of Wednesday, Dec. 9:

Patch editors Jacob Baumgart and Alessia Grunberger contributed to this report.

See Also:

• Baltimore City Closing Indoor And Outdoor Dining As COVID Spreads
• First MD Coronavirus Vaccines Could Arrive Next Week: Officials
• MD Breaks Daily Coronavirus Case Count, Test Records
• These 3 ZIP Codes Account For About 25% Of MoCo's Case Total
• More Coronavirus Regulations Hit Prince George's As Cases Soar