Hospitalizations remain on decline Baltimore County to weigh extension of emergency

Deaths inside nursing homes slow as state fatality toll reaches 2,000

Another 41deaths sent Maryland’s death toll from the coronavirus above 2,000 as of Wednesday, but state data show some signs of progress in slowing the pandemic: Hospitalizations continue to decline and the rate of nursing home deaths has slowed.

Elder care facilities reported 140 deaths reported in the past week, compared with close to 200 the week before that. Still, the facilities remain hot spots for deadly infections, with more than 1,100 coronavirus- related deaths confirmed among residents and staff, and still accounting for more than half of the state’s casualties.

The count of patients currently hospitalized, which Gov. Larry Hogan’s office is monitoring most closely to determine the next steps in Maryland’s reopening process, declined to 1,410, state health officials reported. It was the fourth straight day and 12th time in the past two weeks the state reported such a decline.

Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford said the social distancing requirements imposed two months ago have prevented the state’s health care system from being overwhelmed, and that now, next steps toward “gradually and cautiously” reopening the state will depend on Marylanders who “continue to be patient.”

“What gives us hope is seeing the consistent downward trend … with regard to hospitalizations, as well as with ICU beds,” said Rutherford, a Republican, at Wednesday’s meeting of the state Board of Public Works.

It was not clear if the figures reported Wednesday — the state reports overall statistics on cases and deaths daily, but releases data specific to nursing homes weekly — reflects the state’s effort to test all residents and staff of nursing homes, however. State health officials said they are distributing more than 20,000 tests per week to the state’s nursing home facilities, and that they expect to reach all 227 of them by the end of next week.

But they did not respond to questions about whether the results of those tests have started to come in, and whether they are yet reflected in the publicly reported data.

Testing has been on the rise, according to the posted data. On Tuesday, the state reported its largest count of positive tests in a single day, with more than 1,700, and officials attributed it to a backlog of test results needing to be reported.

“With increased testing, we knew we’d see a rise in the total number of positive cases,” Rutherford said.

But the number of new infections reported Wednesday still declined significantly, to 777, well below the average over the past two weeks of just over 1,000 new infections each day.

Maryland officials also reported 5,895 negative test results Wednesday.

That means only 12% of the 6,672 total test results reported Wednesday came back positive, the lowest rate for a single day in May. The rate has hovered around 20%, a level health experts say suggests only the sickest patients are being tested.

About one in five of the 42,323 Marylanders confirmed infected with the coronavirus is a nursing home resident or worker, consistent with data the state has reported in recent weeks.

But elder care facilities account for a slightly smaller share of the state’s coronavirus deaths than they did a week ago, at about 57% of about 2,004 casualties.

The number of facility staff members killed was unchanged, at 12 people, while the number of residents killed reached at least 1,123.

More than 86% of the state’s coronavirus victims have been at least 60 years old. About a quarter of the cases in Baltimore and a third of the cases in Baltimore County stem from nursing homes.

Prince George’s and Montgomery counties remain the Maryland jurisdictions with the most total confirmed cases of the virus. Those counties feature nine of the top 10 ZIP codes by total infections, with the 21224 ZIP code that includes Baltimore’s Canton and Highlandtown neighborhoods ranking seventh.

Those who are black account for the plurality of Maryland’s infected (37%) and dead (43%), among those whose race is known. Nearly 30% of Maryland’s confirmed cases are in its Hispanic population, when that group only accounts for 10% of the state’s overall population.

Baltimore County Council is meeting remotely Thursday to consider extending its emergency declaration a third time as the state slowly reopens amid the coronavirus pandemic.

County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. declared an emergency order in March for state assistance in obtaining personnel and equipment to respond to the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus. The order allows Olszewski to restrict restaurants, businesses, churches and other places where people gather. The Democrat wants the council to extend his executive action for 45 days because the orders otherwise expire next week.

County Councilman Todd Crandell, however, wants to revoke Olszewski’s emergency powers. Gov. Larry Hogan has lifted Maryland’s stay-at-home order, but Olszewski’s orders, “for the most part,” are keeping churches and small businesses closed, Crandell said.

“Everyone was willing to abide by what the government was telling them to do, but now we’re two months into it and there’s a greater understanding of how this virus works,” Crandell said. “We know what the susceptible populations are, so the focus should be placed on those susceptible populations.”

The Republican governor has enacted a “Safer at Home” advisory, which allows manufacturing, retail, haircuts and worship services to resume with limitations.

As Hogan’s order took effect last week, Olszewski urged people to continue to stay home, adding that the county is still prohibiting gatherings with 10 or more people. Retail stores in the county can reopen for curbside pick-up and delivery, but personal services and indoor religious services remain closed.

Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, a Democrat, also has expressed concerns that the Baltimore-region isn’t ready to relax certain restrictions amid the pandemic.

Young’s fellow Democrats, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman and

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, also imposed rules more restrictive than Hogan’s updated order.

Meanwhile, a group known as ReOpen Maryland has been protesting Hogan’s lockdown measures, and now a ReOpen Baltimore County group is planning a Friday rally in Towson. Tony Campbell, a Towson University professor and one of the group’s organizers, said none of the counties “have the authority to supersede what the governor has said” about closing and reopening statewide.

The counties need a coordinated plan in reopening everywhere, Campbell said. The Republican stressed, for instance, that nothing would stop an Anne Arundel resident from getting a haircut in Harford County regardless of restrictions in the former.

“You see where the dominoes are going to fall because if Baltimore County’s Council [extends the executive actions], then it’s showing precedent that other local jurisdictions can do the same thing,” Campbell said.

Pastors and churchgoers alike have told Crandell they feel like “their constitutional rights are being infringed” because they have the freedom to assemble and worship “as they please.” The Dundalk Republican said small business owners feel like their operations are affected by lockdowns that haven’t forced closures at large businesses such as Walmart.

Olszewski should reopen small businesses and churches in the county with safety precautions, Crandell said.

Sean Naron, Olszewski’s spokesman, said in a statement that “Councilman Crandell is playing a partisan game with life or death stakes.”

“The State of Maryland and our neighboring jurisdictions remain under states of emergency because we remain in the midst of a battle with a highly infectious and deadly disease,” Naron said. “This is simply bad judgement.”

County Council’s session will be held online at 10 a.m. Details for viewing the meeting are available on the council’s website.