Today at 10:45am, Governor Larry Hogan briefed the State of Maryland with an update and the steps the State is taking to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Currently there are 1413 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 Virus in Maryland (on March 25th is was 349) including 110 in Anne Arundel County (31 on March 25th). 15 deaths in Maryland have been reported so far, 1 in Anne Arundel County. In terms of the age breakdown:
- 0 to 9 — 5
- 10 to 19 — 27
- 20 to 29 — 188
- 30 to 39 — 247
- 40 to 49 — 262
- 50 to 59 — 274
- 60 to 69 — 219
- 70 to 79 — 139
- 80+ — 52
This morning, the Governor highlighted the following points and actions to help Marylanders fight the COVID-19 virus:
- Effective 8PM tonight an Executive Order (PDF below–if it does not display, there is a link to download the file) ordering Maryland residents to stay at home will go into effect. Only essential personnel will be allowed out. People may leave their homes for food, medicine, and emergency medical appointments. Only essential businesses will remain open and the Governor instructed them to limit exposure to customers and to allow telework as much as possible. Violation of this order is a violation of State law and is a misdemeanor. If convicted, violators are subject to up to a $5000 fine and 1 year in prison.
- Hogan is asking anyone that has traveled outside of the State to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days.
- Similarly, he has requested all Marylanders to not travel outside of the state for any reason unless absolutely necessary.
- The Governor has requested all law enforcement to enforce the directive.
- A statewide emergency text alert will be sent to all mobile devices across Maryland advising of the Stay at Home Directive.
- Hogan reiterated that we are at the beginning of the crisis and it will get worse before it gets better.
At his prior press conference on March 25,2020, the following actions were put into place:
- Any Marylander or visitor to Maryland who has recently been in New York MUST self-quarantine for 14 days. This is due to the exponential spread of the virus in New York.
- Governor Hogan has requested a Presidential Disaster declaration for the State of Maryland.
- Regarding the hospital surge program. We now have 2,400 beds which is ahead of schedule.
- Maryland just received $4M in Federal funds to provide meals to older residents who may be shut in.
- Seniors who want an automated daily check in call to see if they need anything can register by calling 866-50-CHECK.
- Dr. Karen Salmon, Superintendent of Schools for the State announced that students will not return to classroom for at least another 4 weeks. The current closure will be extended to April 24, 2020.
