Garrett County Reports No New Confirmed COVID-19 Cases

Fortunately, Garrett County has not received notification of any additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 since it announced its third case on Monday, March 23rd. However, Garrett County Health Department’s COVID-19 Hotline, staffed by nurses and established to answer questions about medical information associated with the pandemic, has been very busy the last few days.

 

What do people want to know? They want to talk about things like what qualifies as an essential business and what doesn’t, and how far into the summer they need to cancel their vacation rental reservations. Although these are very important questions, the Health Department’s Hotline was not set up to answer them.

 

“The hotline was established to answer questions about COVID-19 symptoms, and other medical questions,” said Tiffany Fratz, Director of Personal Health at the Garrett County Health Department. “We don’t have the answers to all the questions about the other, non-medical issues associated with the virus and the interventions the state and county are using to try to stop the spread.”

 

To help relieve the large number of non-medical calls on the COVID-19 Hotline, we offer these resources to help answer those questions:

 

Businesses: Governor Larry Hogan’s emergency order on March 23rd closed all businesses NOT covered by the federal guidelines defining ‘critical infrastructure sectors.’ The website govstatus.egov.com/md-coronavirus helps businesses understand the emergency order and offers many other resources, including new COVID-19 business relief programs announced the same day.

 

Rentals: An Order issued by the Garrett County Health Officer on March 26 required all transient rentals in Garrett County to be closed effective March 27, 2020, at 5:00 p.m. The “Transient Vacation Rental Units” category includes individually rented properties such as Airbnb and vacation rental by owner, whether individually managed or coordinated through a management agency. This closing does not include hotels or motels. All existing bookings must be canceled until the Governor’s “Prohibiting Large Gatherings” order is lifted.

 

“At this time, we are uncertain of the length of time that the Governor’s Order issued on March 23, 2020, to protect the public from the impact of the COVID-19 will extend,” said Health Officer Bob Stephens. “This is an evolving pandemic, and given this uncertainty, we would advise renters to not cancel reservations until two weeks prior to arrival date. However, at this time there is no reason to expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will abate in the near future. This is an unprecedented public health emergency, and it is up to all of us to work together to protect the community.”

 

To see the full press release concerning the Order, as well as a link to complete Order, go to bit.ly/healthorders.

 

Other COVID-19 Resources: Visit the Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard for information and updates about COVID-19 in Garrett County and around the world at garretthealth.org/covid-19-information/.

 

Garrett County Health Department is leading the coordination of the county COVID-19 response with participation from other essential agencies through the local Emergency Operation Center. Using technology to connect agency members through video or telephone connections, the important players are able to share information and resources and still maintain the critical social distancing necessary to slow the spread of the virus in Garrett County.

 

The offices at the Garrett County Health Department are currently closed to the general public, however certain essential services are continuing. Most staff members are working from home and providing services to their clients over the phone. A core group of staff is coordinating Garrett County’s response to COVID-19. Patients receiving clinical services should call if they have concerns. To find out the status of each division of the Health Department, visit garretthealth.org/status.

Garrett County remains under a Declaration of Emergency, which provides additional powers and resources to our County Departments to deal with the COVID-19 situation.

Health leaders are asking people to take the illness seriously and to limit unnecessary social exposure by staying home, washing your hands, remaining home if you are mildly sick, and following the CDC’s guidance.

Patients with COVID-19 have experienced mild to severe respiratory illness. Symptoms can include fever, cough and shortness of breath.  Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.  Call your provider if you develop symptoms and have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19, or if you live in or have recently been in high exposure areas.

For medical questions about COVID-19, call the Health Department COVID-19 Medical Hotline at 301-334-7698.

Please call 911 only for medical emergencies, not for coronavirus information or questions.