'It Can Turn On A Dime' | Maryland Health Officials Urge Residents To Get Tested For COVID-19 As More Sites Open
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- State leaders say Maryland has reached a critical milestone by testing at least 10 percent of the population for COVID-19, but health officials across the state are not letting up.
They continue to add even more testing options, especially in hard hit areas.
Gov. Larry Hogan is worried the surge in other states could be problematic. He spoke about the issue on national television.
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"We are happy with where we are, but we are still very concerned and we are staying vigilant because by no means is this crisis behind us," the governor said. "It can turn on a dime and spike up again as we've seen across the country."
The state says figuring out who is infected continues to be a priority.
Baltimore is now partnering with Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center for mobile testing.
"Our goal with these new mobile testing sites is to make it easier for residents without access to a car to find safe testing services in their own neighborhood," Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, Health Commissioner of Baltimore City, said.
Maryland now has 71,447 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,160 people have died as a result of the virus.
Hospitalizations ticked up overnight, but the positivity rate has been under five percent for two weeks straight.
"We are doing much better," Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said.
In Prince George's County, the hardest hit area in the state, Alsobrooks says their positivity rate took a nose dive from 43 to just six percent.
She stressed that the work continues.
"This is astonishing," she said. "The actions that we have taken as a county government, as well as a community, has really helped to flatten the curve."
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 on coronavirus in Maryland here.
