Statement: Mayor Brandon Scott makes the right call to save lives

Strong leadership to restrict high risk activities is right call.

Maryland PIRG

BALTIMORE, Maryland –On Wednesday morning, in his first full day in office, Mayor Brandon Scott issued an executive order to shift all restaurant service to carry out and limit indoor activities and private gatherings.

The restrictions, which are stronger than state restrictions, were based on COVID-19 case data. According to the Baltimore City Health Department, the city is averaging 37 new daily cases per 100,000 people, which is a 97% increase from the last 4 weeks. The City is averaging 4 deaths per day, which is a 440% increase over the last 4 weeks. And, the rolling average positivity rate is 7.3% which is a 90% increase of the last 4 weeks.

According to the Maryland Department of Health, the state has a 7.74% positivity rate and had 46 deaths in the last 24 hours. And according to COVID Exit Strategy, new daily cases are 44.5 per 100,000 people.

Emily Scarr, Maryland PIRG Director, issued the following statement in response:

“Mayor Brandon Scott has taken bold action to save lives in Baltimore City, and we thank him for it. In the past month we have seen COVID-19 surging across the state, and Baltimore is not immune. By rolling back some of the most high-risk activities where people gather together indoors, Mayor Scott is protecting public health. But he cannot do it alone. Baltimoreans should adhere to mask wearing and other safety guidelines and call on Gov. Hogan to follow Scott’s lead.

“While the Mayor is taking the right steps, Governor Hogan must act now to tighten restrictions given how quickly and widely the virus is spreading in the state. The quickest way to lower cases dramatically is for Gov. Hogan to close all in-person non-essential businesses and ensure that people can stay home. There is no good reason to wait until our hospitals are overwhelmed to act to suppress the virus and save more lives. By the time we exhaust our healthcare staffing or ICU capacity, it will be too late.

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Maryland Public Interest Research Group (Maryland PIRG) is a statewide nonprofit that works to protect consumers and public health.