Citing a rise in all metrics related to the coronavirus pandemic, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, officials said in a briefing Tuesday that they鈥檙e looking at reinstating some of the closures and restrictions that have recently been lifted.
鈥淥ur coronavirus numbers are up,鈥� County Executive Steuart Pittman said at a virtual briefing Tuesday morning; he added, 鈥淒id those changes cause us to go from lowering to raising our numbers of cases?鈥�
That possibility has him talking with other county executives in the area, as well as other leaders in the public and private sectors, about 鈥減ossible rollbacks, possible changes.鈥�
He and Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman had the numbers. The rate of spread 鈥� the average number of people each infected person goes on to infect 鈥� is currently 1.28, higher than the statewide rate of 1.18, Pittman said. Both numbers had been under 1, meaning the virus had been contracting rather than expanding.
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Kalyanaraman said cases were up for the third consecutive week, and that hospitalizations were also on the rise. He said the increased rate of spread meant that the growth in case numbers couldn鈥檛 simply be tied to an increase in testing.
The doctor said that the increase in rate of spread in Anne Arundel County was similar to that of Baltimore City, and Baltimore and Howard counties, while Montgomery and Prince George鈥檚 counties 鈥渁re a bit behind us鈥� in terms of a rebound of the virus.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 reopen as fast as we did,鈥� Kalyanaraman said.
Kalyanaraman is one of the county health officers who wrote a letter to the state Monday asking for the reinstatement of restrictions on bars and restaurants.
He added that more cases in the county were being discovered among people between their teens and mid-30s, and that contact tracers had found that the typical number of people each patient had been in contact with had gone way up, from three or four to between 10 and 20, in large part because younger people were more likely to have gone to parties, restaurants, bars and malls, where they come into contact with people they don鈥檛 even know and thus can鈥檛 report to tracers.
Kalyanaraman added that cellphone data indicated that people are now moving around about as much as they were before the pandemic.
Between those two factors, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a massive amount of potential spread,鈥� he said.
Kalyanaraman added that the spread of the virus may seem gradual at first, but as has been shown in the early days of the virus and in other parts of the country recently, it doesn鈥檛 stay that way.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 take action 鈥� We will see a gradual rise in cases, followed by a steep rise in cases,鈥� he said.
At the time of the lifting of restrictions last month, Pittman said, 鈥淚 announced that we probably would be going slower, except that it is so difficult from a public health standpoint and a planning standpoint to move at a different pace than other counties.鈥�
Similarly, Pittman said, the county wasn鈥檛 going ahead with its own re-institution of safety restrictions just yet because they were hoping Gov. Larry Hogan would announce statewide rule changes.
But, depending on conversations with other county leaders, they could make their own decision: 鈥淲e could move as early as Thursday.鈥�
