Coronavirus Spread In Howard County: See Your Risk Of Exposure

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Maryland is in the middle of a significant surge in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Howard County officials have enacted guidelines dictating how many people can gather indoors and outdoors in light of Thanksgiving and other upcoming social events, considering the high rate of coronavirus infections.

The new executive order prohibits indoor gatherings of more than 10 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 25 people effective Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. The Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks has canceled all tournaments that include out-of-state participants and redoubled its efforts on mask-wearing for all other programs, leagues and tournaments. Howard County Executive Calvin Ball also announced the launch of a "Stay COVID Safe" communications campaign for Howard County designed to inform and remind the public on simple steps everyone can take to stop the spread of the virus.

"We've been closely monitoring our data in Howard County, the nation-wide increases we're seeing are also happening here in Howard County," Ball said. "As we approach Thanksgiving and our winter holidays, it is vital that we act swiftly and thoughtfully to stop this spike in cases, keep our residents safe and well. Our decisions will continue to be data-informed and people-driven. Through our contact tracing efforts, we've identified transmission from family or close friends makes up much of our cases. If we all wear masks whenever around people outside our household, we will be able to crush this curve."

What is your risk of exposure?

Researchers from several universities have created an event risk planning tool for every county in the nation. The map shows the risk of coronavirus transmission based on an event's size and location.

A new tool shows the estimated chance — between 0 and 100 percent — that you'll encounter at least one person with the coronavirus at an event in your county. You can reduce the risk by wearing a mask, distancing and gathering outdoors in smaller groups, researchers said.

As of Wednesday, if you were to attend an event with 15 people in Howard County, there would be a 13 percent chance that someone at the event would have the virus, according to the COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool.

Two Georgia Institute of Technology professors led the creation of the project, and their team included researchers from Stanford University and the Applied Bioinformatics Laboratory.

"By default we assume there are five times more cases than are being reported," the research team said in a statement. "In places with less testing availability, that bias may be higher."

"Given our data and current situation in Howard County it is imperative that we make a renewed and concerted effort to reduce transmission of this virus," said Dr. Maura Rossman, Howard County Health Officer. "Wear a mask/face covering. Maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between yourself and others. Wash your hands. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces. And limit visits with those outside of our households."

Use the COVID-19 "Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool" here.

Amber Fisher, Patch Staff, contributed to this report