County Executive Marc Elrich. Via Montgomery County, MD Flickr.
Update (Nov. 23, 5:30 p.m.): Gov. Larry Hogan did not announce additional restrictions at his 4 p.m. press conference, however he said Maryland State Police will ramp up its COVID-19 compliance enforcement across the state.
When asked about Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s call to go back to Phase 1 of reopening, Hogan said Elrich can do what he wants, but the state is doing what it thinks is right.
“He’s more than welcome to take whatever approach he wants to take,” Hogan said.
“I don’t think they’ve followed us for the past nine months, but we’re taking exactly the steps that we believe are necessary at this time,” Hogan said. Elrich has said he thinks restrictions need to be implemented at the state level, or least regionally with nearby jurisdictions in order to be effective.
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Original Post (Nov. 23, 3:30 p.m.): Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich says Maryland needs to return to Phase 1 of COVID-19 reopening.
“Need to go back to Phase 1. We’re in danger of overwhelming hospitals, the projections for MD aren’t good – small steps won’t bend the curve in the right direction,” Elrich tweeted a quarter to 1 a.m. Monday morning.
“We need the new Admin to get real assistance to businesses that bear this load. It’s not blue or red, it’s all of us.” Elrich said the restrictions need to be implemented at the state level, or least regionally with nearby jurisdictions.
Need to go back to Phase 1. We're in danger of overwhelming hospitals, the projections for MD aren't good -small steps won't bend the curve in the right direction. We need the new Admin to get real assistance to businesses that bear this load. It's not blue or red, it's all of us
— Marc Elrich (@Marc_Elrich) November 23, 2020
On Monday, the state health department recorded 1,658 new COVID-19 infections since Sunday, making it the 20th consecutive day Maryland recorded more than 1,000 new cases. The state reported 213 new cases in Montgomery County, making Monday the 11th consecutive day the increase in daily cases is more than 200.
During a media briefing last week, Elrich said he would like to see Gov. Larry Hogan bring the state back as close to Phase 1 as possible. He said the sooner mitigation begins, the impact of COVID-19 lessens.
“At some point the governor’s going to have to do something more, I think,” Elrich said. He said he wants Hogan to consider a 25% capacity limit, as is the limit in Montgomery County for indoor food service establishments, fitness centers, retail establishments and religious facilities (or 25 people—whichever is lower). In Maryland overall, the limit is 50% for these facilities. Elrich said COVID-19 isn’t just an issue in more populated parts of the state; all jurisdictions are affected by the virus. He hopes that Hogan announces heavier statewide restrictions sooner rather than later.
“Now everybody’s got it, so I think this is the moment for a unified, statewide policy, because you don’t have good places and bad places anymore,” Elrich said.
“You’ve got all bad places.”
Hogan has a press conference scheduled for Monday at 4 p.m. to update residents on the coronavirus surge.
Elrich says he would like to see Hogan bring Maryland back as close to Phase 1 as possible. He says we should "try to ride this thing at that level." @mymcmedia https://t.co/8ztTXRLn1D
— Maryam Shahzad (@maryam_mcm) November 18, 2020
In response to Elrich’s tweets Monday, County Council President Sidney Katz said the council will continue listening to public health guidance when making difficult decisions that will ultimately save lives.
“As we have done since the start of the pandemic, the Council will continue to follow the guidance of our public health experts about the best course of action to help slow the community transmission of this insidious virus,” Katz said in a statement emailed to MyMCMedia. “While these decisions are difficult ones, they are matters of life and death, and we don’t make them without detailed information.”
Katz’ full statement on behalf of the council:
Public health data continues to drive the actions taken by Montgomery County to help contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, said Council President Sidney Katz. “Case numbers are climbing across Maryland, and additional public health measures will be needed to help drive down this spike in community transmission.
In Montgomery County today, 213 residents learned that they have COVID-19, and our County continues to have the second highest number of cumulative cases in Maryland, with 31,389 residents who have tested positive. On Sept. 1, the case rate per 100,000 residents was 6.9 percent. Now we are at four times that rate at 29.7 percent.
As we have done since the start of the pandemic, the Council will continue to follow the guidance of our public health experts about the best course of action to help slow the community transmission of this insidious virus. While these decisions are difficult ones, they are matters of life and death, and we don’t make them without detailed information.
