Maryland Governor Larry Hogan held a Monday morning press briefing to alert the state that he had signed an order to shut down all non-essential businesses at 5 PM EST.
Hogan said his decision to shut them down is based on federal guidelines to determine what qualifies as an essential business. Along with this news, he announced a $175 million economic relief package to help small businesses and workers and ease the worsening conditions of the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
The Baltimore Sun reported [1]; “Hogan said the additional step was necessary to “slow the spread of COVID-19 in Maryland.” The order, which takes effect at 5 p.m. today, does not include essential or critical industries as defined by the federal government [2]: health care, law enforcement, emergency workers, food, energy, water, transportation, public works, communications, government, critical manufacturing, financial services, chemicals, and defense. Liquor stores are exempted from the order. Daycare centers are not required to close.”
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🚨🚨 NEW MEASURES IN MARYLAND Maryland Governor @GovLarryHogan [4]:
Not a lock down
Not a stay at home order
Stay home unless ESSENTIAL.
🔴 All non-essential businesses close at 5pm today.
🔴 678% increase in positive cases in MD
🔴 21 out of 24 jurisdictions with positive cases pic.twitter.com/TqFcunf9yy [5]— Adam Longo (@adamlongoTV) March 23, 2020 [6]
The Maryland Department of Health announced Monday the 288 people in the state of Maryland have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Governor Hogan said he is not issuing a shelter in place but has enacted an executive order, closing all non-essential businesses & establishments at 5pm Monday.
“We are not issuing or ordering a shelter-in place order. But we are asking Marylanders to follow the directives that we’ve already set forth.”
The Governor announced that the Maryland National Guard is setting up pop-up hospitals at the Baltimore Convention Center & the Hilton Hotel downtown. This will be a joint partnership in collaboration with UMMS and Hopkins.
Areas with the most confirmed cases in our area are Baltimore County at 35, Baltimore City 31 and Howard County at 26. Anne Arundel County has reported 20 confirmed cases.
Three people in Maryland have died. [WBFF]
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COUNTY BREAKDOWN:
Anne Arundel- 20
Balt. City- 31
Balt. Co.- 35
Calvert- 1
Caroline- 1
Carroll- 5
Cecil- 1
Charles- 5
Frederick- 2
Garrett- 3
Harford- 5
Howard- 26
MoCo- 94
PG- 47
Queen Anne's- 1
St. Mary's- 1
Somerset- 1
Talbot- 1
Washington- 2
Wicomico- 4
Worcester- 2— Michael Ricci (@riccimike) March 23, 2020 [8]
As of Monday, our state has 288 confirmed cases of individuals with coronavirus. That’s 44 more cases since yesterday, an 18% increase. The number of deaths from COVID-19 remains at three for the time being.
This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on March 23, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com [9] and is used by permission.
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