State health officials Thursday announced a Prince George’s County resident had died as a result of Covid-19. A statement said the patient was a man in his 60's who suffered from underlying medical conditions.
The news followed an earlier update on the number of novel coronavirus cases in Maryland in which the state saw a 21% jump from Tuesday---61 new cases for a total 349.
Baltimore Mayor Jack Young joined Governor Larry Hogan and Maryland Air National Guard Generals Thursday morning for a walk-through of the convention center and adjacent Hilton Hotel that is to be converted into a makeshift medical facility to handle the expected surge of novel coronavirus cases.
Governor Hogan has directed the Maryland Air National Guard and the Maryland Department of Health to collaborate with Prince George’s County and the University of Maryland Medical System on a pilot assessment location at Fedex Field in Landover. This will be a joint partnership with UMMS and Johns Hopkins. The governor has asked FEMA to deliver 250 beds and 50 bed packages to support the initiative., UMMS has agreed to reopen Laurel Hospital, which will make another 135 beds available. It’s all part of Governor Hogan’s order for hospitals across the state to add 6,000 new beds to treat patients of the Covid-19 pandemic.