News

Maryland covid numbers hold steady as test rate, hospitalizations decrease

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Nearly 52,800 Marylanders have been diagnosed with coronavirus, with 13,016 cases diagnosed in the two weeks before May 31, 2020, according to the latest data from the Maryland Department of Health. The two-week population of cases continues to plateau, not moving much even after testing was expanded to individuals without symptoms.

Statewide, the positivity rate for coronavirus testing is dropping persistently. As of May 31, 2020, the statewide positive test rate is 10.9 percent, the lowest level seen since April 15, 2020. Maryland has now conducted 348,773 COVID-19 tests, including 9,412 tests over the 24 hours before May 31, 2020. Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, with positivity rates still above the rest of the state, continue to see steady decreases.

College Park

College Park approves $1.7M coronavirus relief fund

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College Park City Council unanimously approved a $1.65 million coronavirus relief package designed to aid businesses and provide direct aid to city residents affected by the pandemic’s disruptions. 

The vote took place at College Park’s May 26, 2020, City Council meeting, held virtually. The measure is expected to be funded through federal disaster aid reimbursements. 

The biggest line item in the relief package is a $1 million small business assistance grant program. Only College Park city businesses with 25 or fewer full-time may apply. The program provides up to $15,000 per business for to offset losses from business interruptions or decreased customer demand caused by the emergency measures imposed to try to stem the spread of the disease. The grants are further restricted to commercial entities with no more than 10 outlets.

Coronavirus

Confirmed Maryland covid cases plateau; State hospital hotspot shows up on ZIP data

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By May 25, 2020, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Maryland increased to 47,152 and the number of deaths climbed to 2,302. But by several metrics – including daily new confirmed cases, daily deaths and two-week population of new confirmed cases – the coronavirus outbreak in Maryland seems to have leveled off, for now. With many parts of the state re-opening, reports of casual-to-non-existent compliance with social distancing at Maryland’s beachside vacation hubs, and expanded no-symptom-needed testing regimes coming online, it will be interesting to see how these trend-lines move over the next few weeks. !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}}))}();

For instance, charted above, the daily population of people with cases confirmed in the preceding two-weeks has hovered between 12,400 and 13,400 since May 6, 2020. !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}}))}();

Likewise, charted above, the number of daily new confirmed coronavirus cases has been slightly down since May 19, 2020, when a backlog of test results were added into state data.

Coronavirus

Data: Maryland’s Coronavirus outbreak slackens slightly

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The number of new covid-19 infections confirmed in Maryland and in Prince George’s County declined over several days last week, according to a key metric tracked by Route 1 Reporter. Specifically, the number of new confirmed coronavirus infections in the past 14 days has declined from a statewide high of 13,260 on May 11, 2020 to 12,396 on May 17, 2020. Likewise in Prince George’s County, the number of coronavirus cases confirmed in the preceding 14 days fell from a high of 4,233 on May 10 to 3,718 on May 17. !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}}))}();

While the trend is encouraging, the conclusion that the declining number is “a good thing” is based on a number of assumptions, including the assumption that the rate of new diagnoses correlates with the true spread of the disease in any way. It must be emphasized this data only reflects confirmed case counts, and not true infection rates.

Coronavirus

Hyattsville to split $1M pandemic fund between nonprofits, business grants

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Hyattsville City Council approved a coronavirus pandemic relief fund allocating $1 million from city funds to go to a mix of local nonprofits and city business grant programs. Measure passed 9-2 with councilors Joseph Solomon and Edouard Haba voting against during Hyattsville’s May 4, 2020, City Council meeting. If all goes according to plan, Hyattsville residents and businesses will be able to apply for emergency city relief funds by June 1, 2020. The measure does several things:

It provides a restricted donation of $300,000 to the Hyattsville Community Development Corp.’s Community Action Fund to provide cash assistance to city residents for rent and mortgage relief, utilities and other emergency exceptions. Provides a restricted $100,000 donation to Employ Prince George’s Hourly Worker Relief fund to provide cash assistance to city residents in Hyattsville, with a two-percent administrative fee.Provides a restricted $100,000 donation to CASA de Maryland’s Solidarity Fund for cash assistance city residents. It creates several emergency business relief grant programs, with grants of up to $10,000 per business, funded as follows:$175,000 for Hyattsville businesses with a single location and 75 or fewer workers. $175,000 for minority-, women, veteran-owned, and single-employee businesses.$100,000 for childcare centers$50,000 for working artists, defined as individuals who earn 50 percent or more of their income from an artistic enterprise. 

Explaining his vote against the measure, Haba said he had concerns about the cost, the scope, and oversight of the pandemic fund. “I voted against the proposal because I believe this was a larger amount to put on the table to help,” said Haba at the end of the meeting. “I understand the urgency to provide relief to businesses and residents, but at the same time, in the fiduciary duty of the city I believe due diligence and strategic thinking and planning to make sure the fund is used accurately is needed.” “I think moving ahead with the organizations presented was a little bit hasty on our part,” continued Haba. 

Mayor Candace Hollingsworth said she suggested the charities because they have a history of providing assistance to Hyattsville residents. 

“I was looking at who’s already doing the work, which indicates to me who is interested in being able to do this work,” said Hollingsworth.