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Hospital staffing shortages and a wave of COVID-19 patients — almost all of them unvaccinated — threaten to overwhelm the state’s healthcare facilities in the coming weeks, Maryland leaders warned on Tuesday.

And they beseeched residents to get COVID-19 boosters, wear masks and avoid gathering in large groups over the holidays.

With Christmas just days away and the now-dominant omicron variant spreading rapidly, Marylanders continued to queue for tests at libraries and clinics, though many found that supplies were exhausted by the time they reached the head of the line.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), who tested positive on Monday and is under quarantine at Government House, pledged $100 million to address staffing concerns and increase the test supply. He did not reimpose a mask mandate, despite pleas for him to do so.

Meanwhile, the state posted its largest single-day increase in cases — 6,216 — since the pandemic began. There were 1,392 COVID patients in Maryland hospitals as of Tuesday morning, a one-day increase of 34. And the 7-day positivity rate popped again — to 11.64%.

State data on COVID deaths has not been updated since a Dec. 4 cyberattack.

“In 20 years of practicing emergency medicine within the military and as a civilian, these are some of the most challenging times I have ever seen in health care,” said Dr. David Marcozzi, the COVID-19 incident commander for the University of Maryland Medical System.

“This week the University of Maryland Medical System will surpass the highest number of admitted COVID patients since the start of this pandemic, with many hospitals at or near capacity,” he added.

Marcozzi said “exceedingly long waits” in emergency departments and delays in surgery — for COVID and non-COVID patients alike — can be expected. “This isn’t just a COVID problem any more.”

Hogan recorded a video message from the governor’s mansion due to his positive test results. Sounding hoarse, the two-time cancer survivor said he’s “doing fine and only experiencing some cold-like symptoms.” He wore a blue track suit emblazoned with a Maryland Army National Guard patch as he spoke in front of a Christmas tree.

The governor said he was making $25 million available to address staffing needs at hospitals and another $25 million for nursing homes; $30 million will go to increase testing in Maryland schools.

The state will make half a million tests available through local health departments and at BWI Airport, and the Maryland Department of Health is expanding operations at testing facilities in Baltimore and in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties.

Maryland National Guard personnel will staff testing sites, as they did during the vaccination surge earlier this year.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) reimposed a mask mandate on Monday.

Marcozzi, whose recorded remarks were shown after the governor’s, said the increase in hospitalizations is being driven primarily by people who are not fully vaccinated. He also said Marylanders “have become too relaxed with our protective measures. From businesses to churches, we need to reinstate preventive measures — and we need to do so today.”

At a press conference in Baltimore County on Monday, Gail Cunningham, chief medical officer at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, said the staffing challenge and patient surge have combined to produce “a health crisis in Maryland.”

“I would recommend mandating masks again,” she told reporters.

A Hogan spokesman declined to comment.

Cunningham spoke at an event organized by Baltimore County Executive Johnny A. Olszewski Jr. (D), who announced Tuesday that he had tested positive. Like Hogan, he is twice-vaccinated and has had a booster.

“I’m asymptomatic and currently feel fine,” Olszewski said on Twitter. “This is a critical reminder of the challenges we all continue face amid the highly contagious Omicron variant.”

The governor said he expects the spike in cases and hospitalizations will peak in mid-late January, though that is when the state typically experiences an uptick in influenza cases. “We will continue to constantly monitor this surge and take additional actions as need.”

Local leaders across Maryland are taking their own steps to boost testing capabilities and to encourage people to get tested before gathering with loved ones.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) announced plans to distribute 100,000 free at-home rapid test kits.

Baltimore officials are using libraries to distribute tests, though lines were long and many people who showed up were not able to secure a test.

Prince George’s leaders defend shift to virtual learning

In the face of criticism from Hogan, Prince George’s Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) defended the decision to temporarily shift from in-person to virtual learning in the county’s schools.

Schools CEO Monica D. Goldson announced the shift last week after 994 students and 261 teachers tested positive, which “began to significantly impact learning and became disruptive to our school environment.”

“It was wise — given the numbers that we’ve seen — to make sure that we take immediate measures to contain the spread of the virus,” Alsobrooks said. “We know we’re in the middle of a surge.”

She said counties have been hampered by the cyberattack that hit Maryland Department of Health computers on Dec. 4. Nonetheless, residents can protect themselves by getting vaccinated and boosted, and limiting contact with others, she said.

While breakthrough cases can occur, Prince George’s Health Officer Dr. Ernest L. Carter said, “the illness is not nearly as severe when you get omicron and you’ve been vaccinated and boosted, as … if you hadn’t gotten vaccinated.”

The shift to virtual learning in Prince George’s took effect on Monday and will run until Jan. 18.

Speaking on Fox News on Sunday, Hogan called that move “a terrible mistake, and something we’re very opposed to.”

A potential candidate for president in 2024, the governor falsely accused the county of “shutting down an entire school system.”

Goldson said she made her decision in consultation with the state superintendent of schools. “(I) shared our issues and concerns here and received a response from him in support of the decision that I made.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Maryland state parks desperately need a boost in funding to hire more permanent staff and update old infrastructure if they want to meet growing demands for park access, state park leaders told lawmakers on Tuesday.

Due to years of low funding and understaffing, park rangers in state parks are overburdened and need support, state park leaders said.

For instance, it took 500 hours for staff to remove nearly 10,000 pounds of trash along a half-mile stretch of the Gunpowder River in Gunpowder Falls State Park in Baltimore County last summer, Dean Hughes, president of the Maryland Rangers Association, told the State Park Investment Commission Tuesday.

“We’re seeing how the sheer number of people is causing irreparable damage to sensitive environments,” he said.

State parks also are losing some of their rangers, who work at or near state minimum wage ($11.75), to the private sector and parks in Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties which offer better wages, Hughes said.

Although some park rangers do leave state parks to work for county parks, most of the time they think, “this is just not worth it,” said Chris Czarra, a park ranger at Patapsco Valley State Park and a member of Maryland Professional Employees Council Local 6197.

Czarra said that park rangers want yearly wage increases and to be recognized as first responders since they are trained to provide some of the same emergency services that emergency medical technicians and police provide.

“Every day, you don’t know what you’re going to be dealing with and your plans are always being upended by circumstances in the park,” he said.

To meet growing demands, new state parks have opened but without additional permanent staff, Hughes said.

For example, Wolf Den Run State Park in Garrett County opened in 2019 but is managed by the same staff responsible for Herrington Manor and Swallow Falls State Park.

And if a park ranger is on sick leave, there is no trained staff person to substitute, Czarra said.

Meanwhile, park visitors increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unrealistic workloads and low wages make a career within the park service an unattractive option to future stewards, Hughes said.

“The current trajectory of our state parks is simply not sustainable, and we’re in desperate need of a major investment to meet our state’s growing demand for outdoor recreation,” Hughes said.

There is also a disparity between the resources of state parks and national parks. Assateague State Park only has 10 permanent employees, but Assateague Island National Seashore has 50 permanent employees and, with seasonal staff, twice as many on hand in summer, Hughes said.

With an annual operating budget of around $50 million for Maryland state parks and with 21 million visitors last year, spending around $2 per visitor is not enough, Hughes said.

Mel Poole, president of Friends of Maryland State Parks, a volunteer organization, recommends that the state park system add at least 100 permanent staff positions to address the pre-pandemic visitation levels alone.

Poole also estimated a backlog of $100-million worth of maintenance work that was delayed and must be addressed in next year’s budget.

Park rangers want funding to upgrade bathrooms, sewage treatment systems and replace out-of-date maintenance equipment. Some is so outdated that it costs more to pay rangers overtime to repair it than it would to buy new equipment, Czarra said.

Funding is even more dire for local park systems, especially in Baltimore, said Frank Lance, president of the Parks and People Foundation, a non-profit that seeks to improve the quality of life in Baltimore by increasing access to green space.

Lance said he regularly meets with the director of Baltimore City Recreation and Parks Department to figure out how to make a difference in disenfranchised communities. “But from a funding source, we’re trying to make bricks without straw,” he said.

Joel Dunn, president of the nonprofit Chesapeake Conservancy, also recommended that the state develop a long-term capital budget plan separate from Program Open Space, which is run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and provides financial assistance to local governments to support recreational land and open space areas.

The federal Great American Outdoors Act that passed last year allocates $900 million annually to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and provides up to $9.5 billion over five years to address the maintenance backlog at national parks. Dunn suggested that lawmakers could follow this national funding model for Maryland state parks.

Hughes said he would like to see the State Park Investment Commission bring about progressive policies for state parks as the Kirwan Commission did for education with its landmark Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

By Elizabeth Shwe

Hospitals Approach Capacity as State Reports Largest One-Day Spike in Infections

Md. Park Leaders Tell Lawmakers State Parks Are Severely Understaffed and Underfunded

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