OAKLAND — The Garrett County commissioners urged the public Monday to adhere to orders and guidelines to stall the local spread of COVID-19 that keeps growing.
“There is an explosion of positive COVID cases in our county,” commission Chairman Paul Edwards said. “Be smart, be safe, and follow the recommendations of the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the health department.”
Edwards pointed to the increased use of the number of beds set aside at Garrett Regional Medical Center for COVID-19 patients. According to GRMC, 15 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 on Wednesday, using 86 percent of the available capacity.
“Hopefully, working together, we can get this to stop in our community, as it’s noticeably been impactful way more so over the past several weeks,” he said.
As of Wednesday, Garrett County’s cumulative case total stood at 797 cases, with eight deaths. Three of the fatal cases were reported Wednesday.
Commissioner James Hinebaugh said the number of deaths that are now occurring should be enough to make people take the outbreak seriously.
“I would like to encourage everyone to wear the masks, practice the social distancing and the hand-washing,” Hinebaugh said. “This idea of wearing a mask is not a political statement at this point. That is, I think, behind us.”
Commissioner Larry Tichnell acknowledged the need for people to continue shopping, but said they should do so in a safe manner. It should be done with as much social distancing as possible.
“We really need to take this seriously,” Tichnell said, “wearing a mask and staying away from large crowds as much as possible.”
Titchnell said he has met with people who had contracted the virus, and he heard from them just how bad COVID-19 can be.
“It’s a horrible thing to have,” Tichnell said. “When you can’t breathe, it can get very, very bad” quickly after coming down with coronavirus.
“Do your best to keep yourself, your family, your neighbors and everybody safe,” he said.
In other business, the commissioners unanimously voted to approve the awarding of a contract to Byco Enterprises of Grantsville for a water connection project.
Out of seven bids, Byco Enterprises will perform the work of connecting the McHenry and Thayerville water and sewer systems at a cost of $2.48 million.
The work will expand the water capacity in McHenry, as well as providing redundancies on both sides’ systems.
A 12-inch water main will be installed between McHenry and Thayerville, and a 30-year-old sewer line that crosses Deep Creek Lake will be replaced.
The goal is to start the project as soon as possible, as the time frame for the work that crosses the lake is limited to December and January.
Byco otherwise has 460 days to complete the project.
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