While Some Maryland Nursing Homes Prepare To Allow Visitors, Others Keep COVID-19 Restrictions In Place
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Nursing homes have been hit especially hard during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hundreds of residents have died here in Maryland alone. As the state's numbers continue to improve, the governor is lifting some restrictions at those facilities. Nursing homes will now allow visitors if there's no outbreak at the facility.
Childcare centers are also getting back up and running as well.
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Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, outbreaks at nursing homes killed hundreds of residents. According to the Maryland Department of Health, 680 residents in those facilities have died.
There's one facility in west Baltimore that's a success story, The Maryland Baptist Aged Home. The CFO said they stopped allowing visits back in February, and they're not letting up now.
"Even now when the governor is saying everything is okay, you can reopen, even while he was in the midst of his press conference last night, folks called me and said, 'Okay, are we going to open? Can we have visitors now?' And I say, 'Listen, we are staying the course. We are not loosening any of our restrictions,'" Rev. Dr. Derrick DeWitt, the CFO of The Maryland Baptist Aged Home, said.
Childcare facilities will also be allowed to resume operations at maximum capacity. Celebree has nearly two dozen preschool facilities in the region.
The CEO said more than 200 parents are on a waiting list who are hoping to send their kids in.
"Yesterday's announcement was huge for Celebree. It allowed for more children to come back into their learning environment and it also allowed for parents to return back to work," Richard Huffman, Celebree's CEO and Founder, said.
One of the concerns the State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Karen Salmon, mentioned was unauthorized daycares that have opened. This is why officials believe it's important to get the legitimate childcare operations back up and running.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
