COVID-19 Joint Information Center Update: April 16, 2020

Posted: April 16, 2020

Coronavirus, Daily COVID-19 Briefings

The Washington County, Maryland Joint Information Center (JIC) provides the following update regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click here to receive Washington County daily briefings delivered to your inbox.

WASHINGTON COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT

On April 5, 2020, Governor Hogan issued Executive Order Number 20-04-05-02 Delegating Authority to Local Health Officials to Control and Close Unsafe Facilities. The purpose of the Executive Order is to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19 by ensuring that a business, organization, establishment, facility, or construction site complies with the Social Distancing Guidance published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Maryland Department of Health (MDH).

The Washington County Health Department will work in coordination with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Maryland State Police to address and investigate all complaints or inquiries regarding social distancing compliance at operating businesses, organizations, establishments, facilities, or construction sites.

Individuals can call 240-313-3210 to report concerns regarding compliance with this Executive Order.

MERITUS HEALTH

Meritus Health has a COVID-19 clinic for patients who have non-emergency health care needs and are either confirmed or suspected by a health care provider to have COVID-19. The new non-emergency care COVID-19 clinic is located at 13620 Crayton Blvd., inside Meritus Medical Plaza. Patients should enter through the main lobby of the building. Hours are Monday thru Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on weekends. COVID-19 screening will not take place at the new clinic. Patients should be referred to this clinic by a Meritus Medical Group provider through an e-visit or another health care professional through a telehealth visit or by calling the COVID-19 care line at 301-790-9170.

Meritus Health continues to offer telehealth visits. These visits will allow patients to speak directly with a primary care provider to discuss health concerns.

Telehealth visits are available from 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday through Friday. To request a telehealth visit please complete the form below.

BOOK YOUR TELEHEALTH APPOINTMENT HERE

INCREASED TESTING CAPACITY AVAILABLE

Click on the map to right to access the closest COVID-19 testing site.

Once you have spoken with someone on the COVID-19 care line – 301-790-9170 – or to your physician about your symptoms, you may be directed to Meritus Health’s drive-thru or walk-thru screening center.

Drive-thru Center: COVID-19 screening is available behind Meritus Medical Plaza, at 13620 Crayton Blvd. Hours are Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and weekends from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Walk-thru Center: COVID-19 screening is available at 24 N. Walnut St, Hagerstown, MD. The walk-thru screening center is open Monday – Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

To view updated testing guidelines for COVID-19 at Meritus testing locations, please click here.

The Health Information Management (HIM)/Medical Records department at Meritus Medical Center has temporarily changed its policy and is currently unable to take walk-in requests for medical records. Urgent needs should be directed to 301-790-8137, Monday thru Friday, between 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

For the most up-to-date information on Meritus Medical Group e-visits, visitor restrictions at Meritus Health facilities including the hospital and other COVID-19 resources, please visit https://www.meritushealth.com/patients-visitors/public-notice/.

**IMMEDIATE NEED AT MERITUS**

Please consider donating new or used rain gear – coats, pants and ponchos – to Meritus Medical Center to help in our need for more protective wear on campus. All donations may be placed in the blue bins located at the Orange entrance in the back of the building, near the new construction site. Thank you in advance for your support with this immediate need.

WASHINGTON COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Please stay tuned to www.hagerstown.org for the latest information on COVID-19 relief resources, local restaurants that remain open for business, and more!

Attention Employers:

Notice: SBA Not taking EIDL Applications as appropriated funds are depleted

SBA announced that due to a lapse in new appropriations, the SBA is unable to accept new applications at this time for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)-COVID-19 related assistance program (including EIDL Advances).

Applicants who have already submitted their applications will continue to be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Information from the Maryland Department of Commerce regarding companies who have already submitted applications for a Maryland COVID-19 Relief Grant or Loan:

Checking on Successfully Submitted Applications: All applications for these programs are tracked in a system called Maryland One-Stop. Applications successfully sent prior to April 3rd have received an email and were instructed to set up a Maryland One-Stop account. Applications received after the 3rd were automatically received through the Maryland One-Stop platform. In either case, successful applications were confirmed via email to the address provided in the application. A business can log in to their Maryland One-Stop account and check the status of their application(s).
Troubleshooting: If a business submitted an application prior to April 3rd and has not set up a Maryland One-Stop account, they should do so immediately by visiting the Maryland One Stop website. When registering, they should make sure to use the email address they provided in their original application. If their original application was received correctly, it will automatically be added to their Maryland One-Stop account and the status can be checked by logging in. If they do not eventually see their original application on their account, they can send an inquiry email to: [email protected].
If there are issues with the Maryland One-Stop system in general, a business can send an inquiry to: [email protected]

WASHINGTON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

As Washington County Public Schools (WCPS) continues the implementation of the Distance Learning Plan, teachers will be grading student work. Parents will soon be able to see their child’s grades on ParentVUE and StudentVUE if they have not already. Those grades will be used to calculate fourth marking period grades.

WCPS students are participating in Distance Learning either through online class(es), downloading and uploading assignments, or completing the assignments provided in paper packets. Schools are focused on being fair to students and encouraging their participation and learning. Due to the ever-changing circumstances around the COVID-19 pandemic, if there are any changes with the grading process, families will be notified.

If, for any reason, a student not been fully engaged in learning or if families need additional support for their child, please contact the school principal for assistance.

Read this message in Spanish or French.

The purpose of this page is to help the public distinguish between rumors and facts regarding the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Rumors can easily circulate within communities during a crisis. Do your part to the stop the spread of disinformation by doing 3 easy things; don’t believe the rumors, don’t pass them along and go to trusted sources of information to get the facts about the state of Maryland’s (COVID-19) response.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES & INFORMATION

EMERGENCY GRANTS FOR OPERATIONS

COVID-19 Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Emergency Operating Grants Now Open

Nonprofit heritage tourism organizations located within the boundaries of a certified heritage area that have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis are eligible to apply for grants of up to $20,000. In some cases, nonprofit Friends groups will qualify.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, with all applications received by the first of each month considered as a group. The first deadline is May 1. Click here for the link to guidelines and to submit an application.

Emergency Grants for Arts Organizations and Artists

In response to the COVID-19 State of Emergency, the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) has created special grant opportunities that provide emergency funding to arts organizations and artists in Maryland as they adjust to losses sustained because of programming, operations, and events that have been modified or cancelled. Applications will be viewed upon submission. For more information visit https://www.msac.org/grants/emergency-grant, or contact Dana Parsons, Director, Grants and Professional Development, at [email protected].

DOT FOODS MAKES DONATION TO UNITED WAY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

Dot Foods donated over 125,000 pounds of food, four tractor-trailer loads of food to help families and response workers in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to get some of these essentials to Community Rescue Service and local Hagerstown Fire Departments, the Washington County Chamber of Commerce Director of Operations, Donna Mitchell, husband Steve Mitchell (Hagerstown Fire Department Firefighter) and staff members of United Way of Washington County, MD, Inc. made some critical deliveries yesterday, April 15, 2020!

HEALTHY WASHINGTON COUNTY CREATES A “HEALTH RESOURCES” WEBPAGE

Healthy Washington County has created a “Health Resources” on their site that consists of:

COVID-19 Updates and News
COVID-19 Education
Medical Resources
Mental Health Resources
Meals and Other Grocery Information
Childcare for Essential Employees Information
Additional Resources

HORIZON GOODWILL – CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS TO ASSIST WITH FABRIC MASKS

Multiple local agencies and organizations that provide direct or essential services have requested in obtaining fabric masks for their employees. Horizon Goodwill is partnering with these agencies and volunteers to provide materials and instructions for creation of these masks. We have the supplies and instructions; we need volunteers with sewing machines to help get them made!

Organizations Needing Masks

City of Hagerstown- 125

Washington County EOC- 200

Salvation Army Soup Kitchen – 40

Turning Point Homeless Outreach Team- 50

Horizon Goodwill – 400

Arc of Washington County – TBA

Additional Ask

Emergency Command-7000-8000 masks that need elastic replaced. These will be at the Community Action Council for repair, need volunteers 10:00 a.m.-Noon or Noon-2:00 p.m. Monday-Friday to complete this project. We want to keep these in one place so that we can be sure all masks are returned to Sheriff. This initiative began on April 10th and will continue until completed.

Contact Information

Call Brooke Grossman, Horizon Goodwill volunteer Point Of Contact, at 301-988-0185 if interested in assisting.

Interested volunteers/groups should pick one of the projects above and a quantity they feel is reasonable for them to produce. Pickup of packaged materials will be coordinated at Horizon Goodwill headquarters at 145151 Pennsylvania Ave (across from Nick’s Airport Inn). Once volunteers are identified for specific projects, they will be provided with the Point of Contact for the specific organization and they can deliver masks directly once complete.