Alsobrooks Addresses COVID
County Executive Announces Over 80% Vaccination Rate But Calls For New Indoor Mask Mandate For Small Children; $176 Million in Federal Funds Coming To Prince George’s As The County Leads The State in Rental Assistance Efforts
By Raoul Dennis
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks provided an update on the county’s status in combatting the COVID-19 virus and its Delta variant October 6.
Listen to Alsobrooks’ full remarks by clicking the video at right.
Alsobrooks said some $176 million in federal grant funding is expected to come to the county in the weeks ahead. It will be applied to hazard and overtime pay for employees, economic recovery, housing and even, in some cases, flooding among others. She reported that $84 million will come from the U.S. Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance fund.
She noted that the county is moving in the right direction regarding the virus.
“We are currently seeing a 3.3% positivity rate in our county,” Alsobrooks said. “For the first time, this has been the lowest that we've seen since July, this positivity rate. Our infection rate is at 0.93, which is in the medium-risk range, and our average daily case rate is at 12 per 100,000 residents, which has declined from over 20 per 100,000. That was just at the end of August, and so we are seeing some progress in the right direction.
Although the county’s COVID-19 cases are trending downward as 82% of residents now have taken the vaccine (or received at least one dose as of the date of the press conference), Alsobrooks warned that Prince Georgians are still not free of the fatal virus.
In light of the recent increase in cases among children, Alsobrooks announced an expansion of the indoors mask mandate to include children aged 2 – 5 years of age.
“We are doing this based on the data,” Alsobrooks explained. “We will just have to do it to protect our kids.”
Anticipating the potential push-back to the new mandate, the county executive said that as a parent, she understands the frustration.
“As a parent I understand it, I get it. I know it is not easy to mask younger children, but we are really doing this based on the data that we have and out of a grave concern for our children, many of whom are getting sick. Right now, our public health officials are concerned that with the spike in COVID-19 cases that we saw in young children between the ages of birth and 17,” Alsobrooks said.
The data is otherwise trending in a positive direction. The county has a 3.3% positivity rate – the lowest since July 2021. The county’s daily case rate is 12/1,000 residents.
“What we know is the best way to really avoid health implications from COVID-19 remains just to be vaccinated,” the county executive says. “The more of us that receive the vaccination, the harder it is for COVID-19 to spread in our community. It remains that the best antidote that we know to this point is to be vaccinated.”
County residents have received over one million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Alsobrooks announced that 64% of county employees are vaccinated and that the department of corrections is among the first to conduct weekly COVID 19 testing.
The county further reported that Prince George’s leads the state in providing relief renters.
“Now more than ever, the pressure to keep families in their homes is high,” Alsobrooks said. “So we are working as expeditiously as possible to process more applications for everyone that needs rental assistance.” Over 4,000 households have received rental assistance thus far and the county is also providing support for landlords because many are “losing thousands of dollars in back rent.”
The county held its first rental assistance community fair in Suitland where more than 400 attended. It will host another rental assistance community fair Saturday, Oct. 9 in Langley Park.
Administrators encourage residents who have not received the vaccine to get it at a location nearest them by reviewing https://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/3730/COVID-19-Vaccine.
Those in need of rental assistance should call (301) 883-6504 and press 9.
