Covid-19 on the Eastern Shore as of Memorial Day Weekend 2020
Jane Jewell • May 26, 2020
Maryland has moved into Phase 1 of re-opening the state’s economy by relaxing the stay-at-home and social distancing rules. Several counties on the western shore — mostly ones near Baltimore and Washington — are continuing the stricter rules because their officials have decided that levels of covid-19 are still too high.
So how is the Eastern Shore faring with covid-19? Are we ready for relaxed social distancing? Will it allow the local economies to revive while keeping the virus at bay? Our cumulative behavior over Memorial Day weekend will determine the outcome, and we’ll know in about two weeks.
Not all types of businesses may re-open. Restaurants and bars are still closed except for take-out or delivery. Also remaining closed are senior centers, gyms and fitness centers, theaters, and most indoor recreational facilities. Malls are closed unless the mall store is mainly retail and has an outside entrance; mall stores that only have entrances from inside the mall must stay closed.
Gatherings of more than 10 people are still prohibited.
However, manufacturers, most other retail stores, and religious groups may re-open — with restrictions and social distancing. Some personal services, such as hair salons and barbershops, may resume business, but both customers and employees must wear masks. Retail stores may operate at only 50 percent occupancy.
The Governor’s website states: “Maryland citizens should continue wearing masks in indoor public areas, retail stores, and on public transportation. Additionally, Marylanders should continue practicing physical distancing, continue avoiding gatherings of more than 10 people, keep washing their hands often, and frequently sanitize high-touch areas.”
As of Memorial Day weekend, there were 2,211 confirmed cases of covid-19 on the Eastern Shore. This is about a 53 percent increase in the number of cases in the past two weeks. To date there have been 82 deaths. Infections are still on the rise here, although the rate of increase is down. Now officials are looking closely at where and how the virus is spreading.
Starting a few weeks ago, nursing homes and other congregate facilities have been required to report covid-19 cases and deaths of both their staff and residents to the Maryland Department of Health. Breaking out those numbers has been very helpful in seeing the pattern of the pandemic. However, it is not as simple as just saying that these facilities have more cases. In a sense, pointing out that covid-19 has spread rapidly in many nursing homes only says the obvious: that illness generally hits the old and infirm harder than the young and healthy.
What seems to be more significant is close and continuous exposure to the virus. It is not just nursing homes that are susceptible to outbreaks, but any crowded space. And nursing homes that have strictly followed all best practices have had much better outcomes. For example, as of May 24, two counties on the Eastern Shore had rates of infection higher than the state’s average rate of 768 per 100,000 population. Kent County’s rate, when adjusted for population, was 776. Most of Kent’s covid-19 cases (65 percent) are from congregate home residents and staff. That matches the stereotype. But the highest infection rate on the Eastern Shore is in Wicomico County where the rate on May 24 was 849. However, unlike in Kent, congregate living facilities make up less than 10 percent of Wicomico’s covid-19 cases. In Wicomico, the covid-19 hotspots currently are in crowded workplaces, such as chicken-processing plants.
This new coronavirus is highly contagious, and no one had any prior immunity to it. The issue thus becomes how to prevent covid-19 from getting into crowded environments including workplaces and nursing homes. The next question is how to stop or limit the virus’s spread if it does get into these places. Some facilities have protected employees and residents very well, while others haven’t. Masks and social distancing along with disinfecting and quarantines do work to slow and eventually stop the virus. But without these best practices, covid-19 may be with us for a long time. With them, we can conquer the pandemic.
Links:
Maryland’s official covid-19 regulations
Stage 1 Reopening announcement
Statistics for the number of cases and deaths in the first chart are from the official Maryland State Coronavirus website at https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/. The website is updated daily at 10:00 a.m. with information for the state as a whole with a breakdown of data for each individual county. There are also data by age, gender, race, and ethnicity, though not all of those categories are available for the county level.
The per capita rates per 100,000 population are from the New York Times interactive Coronavirus Map and Case Count at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/maryland-coronavirus-cases.html. This site is updated several times a day for all 50 states with breakdowns by county.
Other useful sites and articles include:
“A comprehensive timeline of the new coronavirus pandemic,” Business Insider
Jane Jewell
is a writer, editor, photographer, and teacher. She has worked in news, publishing, and as the director of a national writer's group. She lives in Chestertown with her husband Peter Heck, a ginger cat named Riley, and a lot of books.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
