Health officials in Maryland and Virginia announced a handful of new coronavirus cases Tuesday, with more than 20 positive cases now in the region.
A ninth case was confirmed in Maryland late Tuesday, Gov. Larry Hogan announced, involving a Montgomery County woman in her 60s who contracted the virus while overseas. Earlier Tuesday, Loudoun County, Virginia, confirmed its first case: The patient attended a D.C. church that is now at the center of a quarantine.
Concerns about the virus also prompted local public school systems and universities to react.
Here’s the latest on the response to COVID-19 in the D.C. region on Tuesday.
- DC-area schools tweak schedules in response to coronavirus
- Coronavirus tips: Use common sense, don’t panic over DC-area cases
- Coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Coronavirus FAQ: What you need to know
- Closings and delays
Maryland cases continue to grow
The ninth Maryland case is a Montgomery County woman in her 60s who was on the same Nile River cruise ship as five of the previous patients, Hogan said. She is in good condition.
In all, there are five positive cases in Montgomery County, three in Prince George’s County and one in Harford County.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting Tuesday, Hogan said Marylanders should prepare for even more cases as testing expands.
“Federal health officials continue to stress that as we begin to expand testing, we should expect that the number of cases will continue to dramatically and rapidly rise,” Hogan said. “And the nation and the state of Maryland will be shifting from containment to mitigation.”
Hogan said nursing homes and retirement communities are the greatest concern.
State officials have issued new recommendations to nursing homes in the state, calling on them to restrict access to visitors and to ban all facility staff from international travel. Any staff members who have traveled internationally in the past 14 days should be monitored and should stop work immediately if they show any signs of symptoms of the illness, according to the new recommendations.
Earlier in the day, Prince George’s County shared more information about its patients. One of them — a woman in her 50s — contracted the virus during a trip to Boston from Feb. 25 to Feb. 27. County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said the woman and her family are self-quarantining.
The two other Prince George’s County cases are a couple in their 50s who are self-quarantining after contracting the virus during an international cruise. They’re said to be in good condition.
“We also know that our residents are deeply concerned about this virus and about a recent exposure at National Harbor, between the dates of Feb. 27 to March 1 at the Gaylord, where an individual tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to their home state of New Jersey following the Conservative Political Action Conference,” Alsobrooks said.
Alsobrooks said New Jersey officials are investigating the coronavirus outbreak related to CPAC.
“Anyone who attended or worked this conference may be at risk of exposure, according to the Maryland Department of Health,” Alsobrooks said.
The Maryland Department of Health recommends that employees of who worked from Feb. 26 through March 1 during the time of the CPAC conference monitor themselves for symptoms of a respiratory infection including fever, cold-like symptoms, cough, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
People who worked during this time or attended this event should check their temperatures twice a day and notify their health care providers and local health department if their temperature exceeds 100.4 or if they develop a respiratory illness.
She emphasized that Maryland health officials continue to monitor the situation. She said they will do so in a way that is “open and transparent.”
‘Not getting enough guidance from the federal level’
Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation spoke on Tuesday with the state’s Health Secretary Robert Neall, as well as Fran Phillips, the department’s deputy secretary.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said the debriefing included a “robust discussion” about several major issues, including testing for the coronavirus, providing protective equipment for health care workers, contingency plans for schools and providing federal assistance to small businesses.
Cardin said efforts are being made to expand testing, but right now, the capacity for public labs in Maryland is only about 100 a day. The state has requested another 1,000 testing kits from the CDC.
“The good news is that we have capacity now in our private labs, in our hospitals,” Cardin said. “However, that is gearing up.”
Cardin and other lawmakers said work still needs to be done to sort out protocols and the equipment needed for health care workers who administer those tests.
Cardin and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said people who believe they may need to be tested should check with their doctor or health care provider by phone.
Van Hollen said options are being looked at for more widespread testing, noting that in South Korea, there are drive-thru testing areas that limit health care workers’ possible exposure to the virus.
Though no widespread public school closures are currently planned, the lawmakers said they did discuss that potential issue with state health officials.
“Right now, in my view, we’re not getting enough guidance from the federal level and so you have different states and different school systems responding differently,” Van Hollen said.
Other Maryland lawmakers who took part in the conference call and who spoke to reporters included Reps. Jamie Raskin, John Sarbanes, David Trone and Dutch Ruppersberger. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., were also on the call.
The lawmakers emphasized that they are working with Hogan and trying to be united as they reach out on the public health issue to Maryland residents.
Ruppersberger said that for members of Congress, this is a time to put aside political differences.
“I think this is an opportunity to come together on behalf of our country,” Ruppersberger said at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol. “Because this is something that affects every person in our country.”
DC cases ‘likely’ to increase
Speaking at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said it’s “likely” that coronavirus cases in D.C. would continue to grow as testing expands.
“Obviously, this virus has a ripple effect,” Bowser said.
So far, a total of four “presumptive” positive test results have been counted in D.C. The results are considered presumptive because they have to be sent off to the CDC to confirm them.
The total number of cases has been revised down from five. LaQuandra Nesbitt, the director of the District’s Department of Health, said one of the cases initially announced by D.C. involving a 79-year-old man is actually being counted as a Maryland case since that is where the man resides.
Earlier this week, D.C. announced two new cases: a 39-year-old man who attended Christ Church Georgetown, where parishioners have been asked to self-quarantine after the rector tested positive, and a man who recently attended the Biogen conference in Boston last month.
Bowser said the city’s public health lab hasn’t had problems with testing capacity and have had help from federal agencies with testing materials and supplies.
Nesbitt said D.C. is in a containment phase of the response and remains “in a low-risk situation in the District of Columbia for the general public, as the two additional cases that we’re announcing today have known exposures.”
However, Nesbitt reiterated people should “continue to practice great community hygiene,” including staying home when sick, washing hands for at least 20 seconds and coughing into a tissue or your elbow.
Several U.S. lawmakers, including Virginia Rep. Don Beyer, are under self-quarantine after possible exposure to people who have tested positive for COVID-19.
This afternoon my wife Megan and I were contacted by the Virginia Department of Health about the illness of a friend who tested positive for COVID-19 after dining with us. They told us the timeline of his infection began shortly after our contact on February 28. 1/ pic.twitter.com/ct37gVii1w
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) March 10, 2020
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently asked its D.C. employees to work from home. And The Washington Post began encouraging its employees to work from home starting this week through the end of the month.
More cases in Virginia, a warning to self-monitor
Virginia health officials announced a number of new cases Tuesday — including a second patient who tested positive in the City of Fairfax; one in Spotsylvania County; one in Loudoun County; and a couple in Virginia Beach — bringing the total number of cases to eight.
And, in Alexandria, visitors of Immanuel Chapel of the Virginia Theological Seminary, off Seminary Road, are being asked to self-monitor after possible exposure from a D.C. resident who later tested positive for coronavirus.
If you visited Immanuel Chapel between Feb. 26 and March 4, Alexandria health officials are asking you to monitor your symptoms for 14 days from your last visit. If you start to develop symptoms, call the Alexandria Health Department at (703) 746-4988.
Earlier, officials said the Loudoun County patient is a congregant at Christ Church Georgetown in D.C., where two people have tested positive for coronavirus, including the church’s rector. D.C. health officials have asked anyone who visited the church in late February and early March to self-quarantine in their homes for 14 days.
The Loudoun County patient is not in a high-risk group and has self-quarantined, county officials said. The patient has not come into contact with high-risk groups or children, and has not been hospitalized.
At a news conference Tuesday, Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall described the patient as an “otherwise healthy” person in their 40s.
Randall urged calm. “Loudoun County has planned for exactly this type of situation,” she said.
She promised transparency and up-to-date information, emphasizing that residents rely on information from medical professionals. “Our highest priority is keeping people safe,” Randall said.
Officials said they are not aware of anyone else in Loudoun County who visited Christ Church.
Separately, Virginia Health Department officials announced a couple in Virginia Beach — a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s — had both tested positive for the virus after recently traveling on a Nile River cruise. The couple returned to the U.S. on March 5 and were tested at a Virginia Beach hospital on March 8, according to the health department.
The Fairfax patient was identified as the wife of a man in his 80s who was previously announced as the city’s first case on Sunday. Both the husband and wife had also recently been on a Nile River cruise together.
At a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday morning, health officials reassured county lawmakers there was no evidence of community transmission in the county so far, but that expanded testing — including by private-sector testing labs — would provide a better picture.
In addition to the state health department, Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, the Fairfax County Health Department’s director of epidemiology and population health, said two large commercial laboratories in the county — LabCorp and Quest — have been cleared to perform coronavirus testing.
“A physician who is seeing a patient based on the clinical and the exposure histories thinks that it could be COVID-19, is able to get testing done that way,” Schwartz said. “And all of the commercial test results, both those that are positive as well as those that are negative, are being shared with the health department.”
Schwartz said he didn’t have an exact number of the tests performed in Fairfax County so far, but estimated it was somewhere between 10 and 20 tests — not including tests done by the private labs.
Another of the new patients in Virginia is a resident in their 50s of the northwest region of Spotsylvania County.
One of the new patients is a civilian employee at the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, according to a release from the U.S. Navy. It’s not clear which of the Virginia patients this is.
Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia said in a statement on Tuesday that he will self-quarantine after having dinner with an individual who later tested positive for coronavirus.
Area schools respond
On Tuesday night, the University of Maryland, College Park announced that classes will be taught virtually starting March 30 through at least April 10. Students should plan on not returning to campus after spring break until at least April 10. Classes are canceled the week of March 23.
In Virginia, Fairfax County Public Schools announced that it was designating Monday as a “staff development day/student holiday,” so that staff members can “prepare for the possibility of distance learning in the event of a school(s) closure.”
In D.C., American University said Tuesday that it will cancel in-person classes through April 3. All classes and instruction will move “fully online,” the university said in a statement on its website.
A number of other universities across the country have announced plans to cancel in-person classes, including Ohio State and Harvard.
Read more coverage of the response from D.C.-area schools here.
WTOP’s Alejandro Alvarez, Rob Woodfork, Mitchell Miller, Megan Cloherty and Teta Alim and Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
