Heather Curtis
WMAL.com.
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – A day after three Montgomery County residents tested positive for Coronavirus after a cruise, county leaders said they have been preparing for this for weeks, and there’s no reason to panic. But they acknowledge their lack of details about the cases may have some people concerned and questioning the county’s transparency.
Montgomery County Health Officer Doctor Travis Gayles would not say which part of the county the people with Coronavirus live in because he said they need to protect their privacy. No matter where they live, the information they would give to county residents to protect them would be the same according to Gayles. He also wouldn’t say which hospital they went to for testing but said workers at the hospital took necessary precautions to keep themselves and patients safe.
“If there’s a question where I may not answer fully to the level, it’s not trying to hide any information from you all as the general public. We also have the balance of trying to protect the privacy of the individuals who are impacted and effected by this,” said Gayles.
The state and county are working to figure out where the three people – a married couple in their 70s and a woman in her 50s – went in the time period between when they arrived home from traveling on a cruise and when they began self quarantine.
“We’re looking into specific instances where they may have had contact with others, but as best as I can surmise from that summary there was very limited interaction with school-aged children,” Gayles said.
He said there’s no timeline on when that will be completed, but all three realized they weren’t feeling well and limited their activities, including staying home from work.
He stressed all three are doing well clinically, and their symptoms are abating.
At this point, the county is not closing government buildings or facilities, including schools. School officials said Thursday if schools are closed, instruction will continue in other forms.
County Executive Marc Elrich urged people to stay home if they’re sick.
The county’s director of emergency management Earl Stoddard said the county is ready to keep people safe.
“We know the concerns that are out there within our public, but we believe we have a robust system of partners who are very committed to providing services to our residents, and they will succeed in providing services even during these trying times,” Stoddard said.
The county is able to collect specimens from people with symptoms of Coronavirus and then send them to a lab in Baltimore to be tested according to Gayles. Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control gave states the green light to do their own testing instead of sending it to Atlanta.
The county promised to pass on as much information as possible as quickly as possible. Updates can be found here.
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