Coronavirus Latest: Baltimore Co. Executive Johnny Olszewski Declares Local State Of Emergency
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) -- Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski declared Friday a local state of emergency and released additional information and guidance to expand the county's coordinated response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Olszewski also announced additional updates regarding government operations.
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The Baltimore County Public Library will be closed from March 16 through March 29. Programs and mobile services will be cancelled through May 3.
Beginning Tuesday, March 17, the Department of Recreation and Parks will offer limited meal distribution to children 18 and under through the Maryland Food Bank and Healthy Food Access St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore. The Department will offer the take-away meals from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays.
Those meals will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis at the following locations:
- Dundalk PAL Center
- Mars Estates PAL Center
- Shady Spring PAL Center
- Hillendale PAL Center
- Cockeysville PAL Center
- Soctts Branch PAL Center
- Winfield PAL Center
- Woodmoor PAL Center
- Arbutus Community Center
The Baltimore County Department of Health has opened a hotline for residents to call with questions or concerns.
The number is 410-887-3816. The hotline will now be operational seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Olszewski released the following statement, saying:
"Our highest priority is to protect the health, safety and well-being of our residents. In declaring this state of emergency, I am authorizing Baltimore County government to take all necessary steps to respond to any potential impact the virus has on our communities. This situation continues to quickly evolve and we are taking these new actions to flatten the curve as we continue to work in partnership to limit the spread of this virus."
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage oncoronavirus in Maryland here.
