Jul 30

Jul 30 ‘It Will Take A Village To Beat This Virus’

Alsobrooks To Take Stronger Measures Against COVID Spread As Parties, Cases Increase

By Raoul Dennis

Recent parties at the Broadwater Estates epitomized the uptick in the spread of Coronavirus and have led to the more aggressive posture of the Alsobrooks Administration to quell the surge

The county will begin imposing fines and other penalties against people, groups and companies that don’t follow legal social distancing measures.

“While we are not yet at the point of having to roll back our reopening, we are concerned about some of the recent trends we have seen in our County and across the State of Maryland,” said Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks. “If we want to avoid a setback in our recovery, we must all continue doing our part to stop the spread of this virus, including wearing face coverings and practicing physical distancing.”

The county has the authority to mandate that only people who live at these properties are able to be at the property. Anyone who violates this order, and this includes the owners of the property, any promoters who host the party and anyone who attends the party, will be subject to being charged with a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail, a $5,000 dollar fine, or both. The County is ready and willing to take action against anyone that is willfully violating safety ordinances by hosting these parties.

Findings that 44% of new COVID-19 spread comes from family gatherings, 23% through house parties and 21% through outdoor events (barbeques, etc.), contributed to the increased call to action.

The county has seen a slight increase in several key metrics over the past two weeks. The county has seen a 56% increase in cases over the last couple of weeks, from a low of 581 cases the week of June 28 to 909 cases for the week of July 12. Hospitalizations have also increased from an average of 45 inpatients per day with COVID-19 for the week of July 5 to 62 per day last week. Finally, the county’s positivity rate has also increased slightly from 5.3% for the week of July 12 to 5.8% percent last week. The county is closely monitoring COVID-19 data daily to determine if additional actions will be needed at the local level.

Prince George’s has conducted some 160,000 COVID-19 test since the start of testing in the county.

“It’s going to take a village to beat this virus,” said Dr. Ernest L. Carter as he and Alsobrooks called on residents to not lose their resolve to control the spread.