While COVID-19 testing is rebounding in Montgomery County over the past week or so, officials on Wednesday warned of 鈥淐OVID fatigue鈥� and said the numbers are still lower than they need to be to keep track of the virus.
While Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said testing was inching back up in the county and statewide, the numbers were still down from the heights of the summer, mentioning “COVID fatigue” as a possible explanation, as well as recently corrected misinformation from the federal government about who needs to be tested.
County Executive Marc Elrich emphasized, 鈥淲e have capacity for more testing; we need people to come in and get tested.鈥� Otherwise, he said, it鈥檚 hard to know where the virus is until someone gets sick.
Elrich also advised residents to get flu shots. Gayles said getting flu shots is important so there鈥檚 鈥渁s little confusion as possible about who has COVID, who has the flu and who may have both.鈥�
Elrich also emphasized the importance of wearing masks, pointing out the controversy last week when for a short time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put an advisory on its website saying that six feet of distance between people 鈥渋sn鈥檛 necessary a foolproof barrier.鈥�
Elrich asserted that 鈥渇or political reasons, the items got taken down,鈥� but that people should take the uncertainty seriously.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not all that difficult鈥� to wear a mask, he said.
Gayles also reported that another nonpublic school in the county has met the state’s criteria for a COVID-19 outbreak, and that students at 鈥渁 number of other鈥� nonpublic schools have had COVID-like symptoms. Asked whether there had been any cases in the limited in-person structure of public schools, Gayles said that there may have been cases 鈥渟eparate from their school setting, but at this point we have not had any reported鈥� that would require quarantines.
Alcohol sales
Dr. Earl Stoddard, director of the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said county officials were working on a 鈥渄raft proposal鈥� to expand alcohol sales until midnight from the current 10 p.m. cutoff.
He said the move would eventually be made, but that the county was 鈥渆xtremely scrutinous鈥� of the idea. 鈥淎ny circumstance that has people indoors congregating,鈥� especially in places such as restaurants and bars where people aren鈥檛 wearing asks to eat and drink, has the potential to spread the virus.
Asked whether he was worried about the effect of safety restrictions on businesses, Elrich replied, 鈥淚鈥檓 worried about everything.鈥� He added, 鈥淲hatever we鈥檙e doing, we鈥檙e doing in the context of whether or not we can keep people safe鈥� and emphasized that indoor and outdoor dining are among the highest-risk activities.
Elrich mentioned the 鈥渟ad鈥� example of the Harp and Fiddle, which has had to close after a dropoff in business 鈥� as well as, Elrich added, the lack of any flexibility from their landlord. 鈥淚 imagine there are other people who are in similar situations.鈥�
Still, Elrich maintained, 鈥淲e need to make sure we are as little exposed鈥� to a possible second wave as possible. If the county鈥檚 numbers were similar to those in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, he said, 鈥淲e鈥檇 be having a different conversation. But we aren鈥檛 even close.鈥�
Stoddard said that the county is looking at the potential to emulate D.C. with a grant program to winterize outdoor dining spaces. He added that the county is working with neighboring jurisdictions on guidelines for how to safely celebrate Halloween, and hopes to have an announcement next week.
Elections
Elrich said the county鈥檚 requests for mail-in ballots has been 鈥渢remendous,鈥� with hundreds of thousands of people requesting ballots. He recommended voting by mail rather than email, since email ballots have to be transcribed, with another person watching. 鈥淭his complicates and slows down the process,鈥� he said.
Mail-in ballots will be mailed out early next week, Elrich added, reminding voters to sign the affidavit on the envelope, not the ballot itself.
In-person voting will be held Oct. 26 through Nov. 2 at a number of sites across the county. Elrich advised voters to check the county website for a list of sites when the voting period opens. You can also drop your ballot at dropoff sites, a list of which you鈥檒l get when you receive your ballot in the mail.
And on Election Day, Nov. 3, Elrich said, county residents can go to any of 39 voting sites in the county 鈥� all the early voting sites, all the public high schools and more.
Fiscal impact
Asked about the fiscal impacts of the pandemic and related closings, particularly whether tax increases and/or service cuts were on the way, Elrich said the county was anticipating less of an income-tax hit than they feared at first, thanks to the federal unemployment program. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to see the complete falloff鈥� of tax revenue that people saw in the Great Recession and other fiscal calamities, he said. Revenues will be off for fiscal 2021, but 鈥渋t won鈥檛 be a deal-breaker.鈥�
The next year will be the challenge, Elrich said, with the possibility of not filling empty government jobs, but 鈥淲e鈥檝e got ways of avoiding drastic cuts, at least for this year.鈥�
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