Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks PHOTO: RAOUL DENNIS // PRINCE GEORGE’S SUITE MAGAZINE & MEDIA. FILE PHOTO.

Alsobrooks Moves County Into Phase 1 Reopen, Announces New Prince George’s County Forward Task Force

By Raoul Dennis

County Executive Angela Alsobrooks outlined plans to reopen Prince George’s County in a modified Phase One as stay-at-home orders are set to expire June 1.

In a May 28 press conference, County Executive Alsobrooks announced the specific steps in the reopening and she explained what sectors of the county will be allowed to open and how.

The announcement to a modified Phase 1 comes as the county is experiencing a decline in hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19, and as testing increases and is made more available.

“The ICU is now down and at one point utilization was up near 80%. We are pleased to see it start coming down,” Alsobrooks began, noting additional PPE resources coming to the county.

“We told you that there were certain declines that we needed to see over two weeks,” Alsobrooks continued. “And I’m very pleased to tell you that we are starting to see some of those declines.”

The county executive said the county saw 2,317 new cases during the week of April 26. “During the week of May 10 we saw a 13.5% decrease in our total number of cases from the prior week and our numbers continue to decline.”

We continue to see a decline of the rate of death from COVID-19 as well. “Three weeks ago over 70 residents per week were dying but the rate of death has continued to drop and we are now seeing approximately 60 deaths per week. Sixty is still too many. Coronavirus is still with us.”

The executive believes the county is ready to enter into Phase 1 of recovery.

“I am more comfortable that it is time to lift the stay-at-home order and although again, I want to be very clear that we all – especially those who suffer with the underlying chronic health conditions – must be very careful and we asked those individuals to be careful and to stay home as much as possible,” Alsobrooks says.

The county executive outlined key points of the new guidelines.

*Retail stores will be allowed to be open for curb side service.

*Barber shops and hair salons will be allowed to open for services by appointment only with one customer per 200 square feet and appropriate floor marking to assist with social distancing. PPE must be used; this includes face mask and gloves for all employees, and customers must also wear a mask.

*Houses of Worship may open but not more than 10 people are allowed to gather at a time.

*Restaurants may open with outside seating only. There can be no more than six people seated at a table. Tables must be at least six feet apart, and no more than 50 people will be allowed at any outdoor restaurant establishment.

*Car washes may open with automated systems, but drivers and passengers must stay inside of the vehicle at all times.

*Golf courses and tennis courts will be open.

*Parks: basketball and playgrounds will remain closed. Fitness facilities will remain closed as well.

Alsobrooks announced the establishment of a Prince George's Forward Task Force to help manage the reopening of the county. The task force, chaired by Dr. Charlene Dukes, president of Prince George’s Community College and William A. Von Hoene, Jr. senior executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Exelon Corporation, will survey, report and take real-time action on matters related to getting the county back to operation.

“This is a dynamic group that can respond to challenges in real-time and provide high-quality recommendations based on cutting-edge data,” Alsobrooks said.

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The Prince George's Forward Task Force subcommittees include Thomas Graham, the founder of T.H. Graham & Associates, who will chair the economic development subcommittee. Dr. Darryll Pines who is president of the University of Maryland at College Park, will chair the education subcommittee and Dr. Joseph Wright the interim president and CEO of the University of Maryland Capital Region Health, will chair the health subcommittee. Rosie Allen-Herring, president and CEO of United Way of the National Capital Area, will chair the human services subcommittee and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley will serve as chair of government operations subdivision.

Dr. Ernest L. Carter, health officer of the Prince George’s County Health Department, explained that the news is good, but warned that the threat to county health is not over.

“We have flattened and are now reducing the curve and we're happy about that, but I'm cautious,” Dr. Carter said. “We're seeing enough progress to gradually begin to reopen Prince George's County, but I mean gradual. We're not going to go too fast,” he said.

“The work’s not over. We've got to stay strong in this fight,” he continued. “We don't want to backtrack and we don't want to be forced to close up shop again. We must continue to stay six feet from each other in public.”