The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about half of the United States, including Maryland, have “very high” amounts of COVID-19 virus identified in wastewater collections, signals to health officials that viral activity is rising in the community.

The report comes as the latest data from the Maryland Department of Health shows that hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been rising steadily since May, when the number stood at 38. As of Monday, at least 245 people were in hospitals in the state for COVID-19, the data showed. Since early August there have been an average of more than 200 people hospitalized with COVID each day.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich called the county’s recent rise in hospitalizations “bad news.”

“As of yesterday, there are 48 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Montgomery County…. Numbers have been steadily climbing over the past several weeks,” Elrich said.

“I, please, urge everyone to think about the elderly and people who are most immunocompromised. They face the most danger of getting gravely ill,” he said.

The Maryland Department of Health data also showed a rise in reported COVID-19 cases, from an average of 111 a day in June to 237 in July and, by August, an average of nearly 398 cases of COVID-19 identified per day in the state.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar with Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that despite the rising hospitalizations and cases, the health care systems and people have more tools at their disposal to help fight off severe disease than they did in the past.

“If you have tools like antivirals … immunity from prior infection, immunity from vaccination, which might not prevent you from getting infected, but what it will do is prevent you from getting, in general, severe disease, hospitalization and death,” Adalja said.

He said COVID-19 is now an “endemic respiratory virus.” When a virus “settles into endemicity, where, yes, it can cause severe disease and hospitalization and deaths for high-risk individuals, but it really loses the ability to do it at such a scale that a hospital goes into crisis,” he said.

“COVID-19 is always going to be with us. It’s not something that can be eradicated or eliminated,” Adalja said. “It is an endemic respiratory virus.”

But even as daily cases have increased this summer, they are nowhere near the number of daily COVID-19 cases from 2022, when new cases in Maryland regularly reached 2,000 per day. The worst spike was on Dec. 28, 2021, when 17,252 cases were reported in Maryland.

But in 2024, Adalja says that daily cases are no longer an optimal measure of the severity of COVID-19 in the state.

“If you go back to the early days of 2020, that summer, increases in cases translated in increases in hospitalizations and deaths. And what has been increasingly happening is that because of the immunity of the populations, because of the tools of science,” he said, “we’ve kind of seen a decoupling of cases from hospitalizations.”

Deaths as a result of COVID are not rising as high as in previous years, though people are still dying from the virus. According to the recent update, 26 people in Maryland have died so far in August due to COVID-19, with 11 of those deaths in the past week.

Jennifer Schneider, the disease prevention and management director for the Anne Arundel County Health Department, says that despite the rising hospital cases, COVID-19 is becoming more “normalized” in day-to-day life.

“COVID is here, COVID is going to stay. But we’re at a point now where it is very, very similar to the flu … and the prevention recommendations are very similar as well to all respiratory illness,” Schneider said.

“We’re no longer in a pandemic. We’re no longer seeing the increase in hospitalization, increase in death that we were seeing at the beginning of the pandemic,” she said. “So we’re trying to move to the same messaging as our flu messaging.”

She stressed that, like the flu, COVID-19 can more severely impact elderly individuals and those who are immunocompromised. She urges everyone to keep up regular hygiene practices such as washing hands, sneezing into their elbow, getting an updated vaccine when it becomes available in the fall and avoiding others when sick.

Meanwhile, thousands of county officials, lobbyists, activists and others will be gathering in Ocean City this week for the annual Maryland Association of Counties summer conference.

Adalja said that anyone going to a large event “has to assume that there is going to be an enhanced risk of you getting exposed or infected with other peoples viruses.”

“When humans gather, the viruses that they carry are also gathering. Large events have often provided a forum for viral exchange,” he said. “With respect to COVID-19, I think it all depends on each person’s risk calculation – how much are they trying to avoid COVID.

“If you are at a large gathering and have any high-risk conditions, I would make sure that you think about … using a mask. Think about doing activities outdoors, if you can,” Adalja said. “But know if you’re going to enter, if you’re going to engage in a large gathering like that , you’re assuming a risk and you can’t make that risk zero.”

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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This is a Maryland Matters story from August 1, 2024, that has been expanded upon by MoCo360.

Nearly 1,000 Marylanders have ended up in the emergency room for heat-related illnesses so far this summer and 14 people have died, as brutal temperatures lead to dangerous heat exhaustion, heat stroke and death.

The hospitalizations are the highest since the Maryland Department of Health began publishing that data in 2019, and come with two months left in the “heat season” that runs from May through September. With hotter days yet to come, state health officials are urging Marylanders to keep heat safety practices in mind.

“We still have some very, very hot days ahead of us,” said Clifford S. Mitchell, director of the Environmental Health Bureau in the health department. “We’ve seen over the last several years that the heat season … is in fact hotter, but we are seeing it start earlier and we’re starting to see greater numbers of hotter days.”

With temperatures expected to be in the upper 90s, Montgomery County has activated a hyperthermia alert for extreme heat from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Residents are urged to stay hydrated and take precautions to protect themselves and pets from heat-related illnesses.

NASA reported last week that July 22 was the hottest day in recorded history on Earth, passing the previous record set just last year.

The National Weather Service said Thursday evening that the Lower Eastern Shore was under an excessive heat warning with “dangerously hot conditions” and “heat index values up to 110 expected.” The rest of the state, with the exception of Allegany and Garrett counties, was under a heat advisory with heat index values up to 108 degrees expected.

The state health department releases weekly reports from May through September on heat-related illnesses and deaths. The most recent update was Wednesday, with data from April 28 through July 27.

That report said that at least 967 people had gone to the emergency room or urgent care due to heat-related illnesses as of July 27. That is already far higher than the 900 heat-related ER visits in 2019, the first year the data was gathered, and the 901 reported for the entire 2021 heat season.

Mitchell said the health department communicates with hospitals and emergency departments to ensure that facilities are prepared for potential influxes of patients needing medical care from the heat.

“That’s a large part of our local health department planning with the Office of Preparedness and Response, is to make sure that all of the people who could potentially be involved in response are aware when there’s going to be a sort of string of extreme heat days,” he said.

Heat exposure can lead to serious health conditions, the most dangerous being heat stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heat stroke can lead to permanent organ damage, neurological dysfunction, or death if the affected person does not receive emergency treatment. Symptoms can include confusion, seizures, loss of consciousness and profuse sweating, among others.

Heat-related deaths rising

Deaths from heat-related illnesses are also climbing.

At least 14 heat-related deaths were recorded in the state as of July 27, as high as the previous two years combined. All of this year’s deaths have been to people 45 or older, with the majority – 11 of the 14 – being men.

While deaths this year are up, they are still well below the 28 heat-related deaths reported in 2018 and the 46 recorded in 2012, when storm-driven power outages left many without air conditioning for days.

The Department of Health continues to push for Marylanders to practice heat safety as the summer continues.

Those working or spending time outside should try to schedule physical activities in the morning or early evening when temperatures tend to be cooler. Residents should also wear sunscreen, avoid direct sunlight as much as possible and drink plenty of fluids, while avoiding alcohol, caffeine and “overly sweetened beverages.”

Children and pets should not be left in the car on a hot day even with the windows cracked, according to the department.

“Everybody is at risk for heat-related injury. It’s not just the very old, it’s not just the very young, it’s not just those with medical conditions. Everybody needs to take the heat very seriously,” Mitchell said.

“All the messaging around dressing appropriately, staying hydrated, taking frequent breaks, staying out of the heat … the message is the same,” he said.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and X.

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Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court upended 50 years of abortion law with its Dobbs decision, Maryland has reaffirmed its position as an abortion-friendly state while other states have restricted or banned the procedure outright.

Providers in Maryland say they have seen an increase in patients, including an influx from states with restrictive laws. Voters will consider an amendment to the Maryland Constitution this fall that would guarantee reproductive rights, and the question of abortion is expected to have an outsized role in the race for the state’s Senate seat.

But advocates realize that even in abortion friendly states such as Maryland, the landscape could shift at any time — perhaps as early as this week when the Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether federal law overrules state law on emergency abortions.

“I’m waiting, kind of like ,‘Here comes the next blow.’ You just kind of sit and wait for the next thing,” said Sharon Blugis, executive director for Reproductive Justice Maryland.

It’s a far cry from some states that all but banned abortions after the court handed down Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health on June 24, 2022. That ruling reversed Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that recognized a federal right to an abortion, and said that abortion law should be left to the states.

What has emerged is a patchwork of laws that vary state-to-state. On the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs, Planned Parenthood of Maryland President and CEO Karen J. Nelson thinks it’s a “good day to reflect” on where the nation is on abortion access.

“Where you live should not determine what kind of health care that you receive. And we have created a very large inequity across this country in providing care for those who need it,” she said.

Refuge for out-of-state abortions

The Guttmacher Institute, which provides nationwide abortion analysis, estimates that in 2023 there were a total of 38,590 clinician-provided abortions performed in Maryland, more than 4,000 for patients who came from other states.

Nelson said that in the first year post-Dobbs, Planned Parenthood clinics across Maryland saw a 40% uptick in patients compared to the previous year. And across their network, they continue to see out-of-state abortion patients.

“We see, just in Planned Parenthood, 13% of our patients are from out of state,” she said. “Some of it is what you would expect, that neighboring states and especially West Virginia, where there’s a total ban. But then you have a lot of people coming from Texas.

“The numbers that are increasing the most are the Florida folks,” Nelson said. “Where we just saw, in the past, maybe one or two patients from Florida a month, that is increasing exponentially right now.”

In April, the Florida Supreme Court allowed a controversial ban on abortions after six weeks to take six-week abortion ban to go into effect. Nelson believes that the six-week ban, which took effect in May, is contributing to the influx of patients from Florida to Maryland Planned Parenthood facilities.

‘Holding our breath’ on U.S. Supreme Court cases

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a case that could have limited access to a drug called mifepristone, a drug commonly used in medication abortions, saying that the anti-abortion doctors and organizations who brought the case did not have standing to do so.

The case called into question the safety of mifepristone after the Food and Drug Administration relaxed regulations in 2016 to make it easier for the drug to be prescribed and taken.

Abortion-rights activists cautiously celebrated the ruling, but expect that new cases challenging the drug would arise in the future. Anti-abortion organizations also expect to see future challenges.

“The justices did not rule on the substance of the case at all. They ruled on the issue of standing,” said Jeffrey S. Trimbath, president of the Maryland Family Institute.

“And it will come back. The substance of it will be decided. This just wasn’t the right vehicle. You win, some you lose some,” he said.

Now both anti-abortion organizations and reproductive rights advocates have turned their attention to an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision that could allow emergency rooms to refuse to provide emergency abortions even in the case of severe, life-threatening pregnancy complications.

Moyle v U.S. challenges the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, shortened to EMTALA, a 1986 law that ensures “public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay,” according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

In July 2022, CMS sent a letter to hospitals across the United States stating that EMTALA preempts state laws that ban or severely restrict abortion in cases where an emergency abortion is necessary to “stabilize” patient’s medical condition. Under EMTALA, doctors can perform abortions in such circumstances, the letter said.

But the state of Texas sued the federal government over what it called the Biden administration’s effort to “transform every emergency room in the country into a walk-in abortion clinic.” That case is currently in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on another challenge to EMTALA, from Idaho. In that case, it was the Biden administration that sued the state, for abortion laws that are too narrow for doctors to perform an abortion to stabilize a patient if needed, as EMTALA requires.

In Maryland, advocates worry that separating emergency abortions from EMTALA could give the state’s religiously affiliated hospitals and emergency rooms the ability to refuse to provide emergency abortions.

“We’re focused on the coming decision on EMTALA, but I think we’re kind of holding our breath on that one, I don’t have a lot of faith on what’s going to come down,” Blugis said.

Abortion on the ballot

The abortion question also plays a role in the race for the state’s available U.S. Senate seat, as former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan attempts to convince Maryland’s largely Democratic voters that he supports Roe-style abortion protections.

Meanwhile, his Democratic opponent, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, is trying to convince voters not to trust Hogan’s stance on the matter.

In addition, Marylanders will get to decide if the state constitution should enshrine the right to receive an abortion and determine other reproductive decisions.

In 2023, the General Assembly voted to put the “Right to Reproductive Freedom” amendment on the 2024 ballot. The change would protect “the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy.”

Blugis said that her main priority is to collaborate with other reproductive health clinics and advocates to push an information campaign about the ballot question, urging voters to approve the constitutional amendment.

Anti-abortion groups are urging Marylanders to reject the ballot initiative, saying that the measure would eliminate health and safety regulations and argues that the amendment threatens a parent’s right to make medical decisions for their kids.

Blugis says the amendment is an opportunity to for Marylanders to defend reproductive freedom in the state as the rest of the nation turns into a patchwork of laws and regulations on abortion access.

But some are not as confident.

In 2021, Layla Houshmand, was eight weeks pregnant when she experienced a medical emergency. Doctors would not provide treatment for that condition while she was pregnant for fear of  endangering the fetus. But even in pre-Dobbs Maryland, she said she struggled to secure an abortion.

Houshmand, now 37, worries that state guarantees for reproductive freedom would provide little protection if anti-abortion politicians at the federal level limit abortion access.

“We’ll take what we can get. It’s a positive thing. I’ll vote in favor of it,” she said of the Maryland constitutional amendment. But with the possibility of an anti-abortion Congress that could push fetal personhood laws, “all of that might not matter.”

“Once you have embryos having the same kinds of … rights as living, breathing people, the game’s over,” Houshmand said. “It doesn’t matter what your state law is.”

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Community members, experts and local leaders will gather Tuesday night at a town hall meeting in Wheaton to talk about new initiatives aimed at addressing addiction, violence and mental health issues affecting adolescents and young adults in Montgomery County.

The meeting, “Supporting Youth in Crisis,” is sponsored by the Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee and will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wheaton Library and Recreation Center at 11701 Georgia Ave., according to a county press release.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich is expected to join the town hall and speak about the county’s progress in addressing youth substance abuse and the next steps it plans to take.

“Addressing youth violence, substance use and mental health is a top priority for me and for all of county government,” Elrich said in the release. “I understand the desperation families feel when their children are in need, and we recognize there is much more work to be done.”

At the town hall, attendees also will hear from mental health professionals and community leaders and engage in an open dialogue during a question-and-answer session, according to the release. Information booths with resources on mental health services, youth services, outreach services and harm reduction and prevention also will be available.

Identity Inc., a Gaithersburg community organization focused on supporting the county’s Latino youth, will provide an update on its pilot initiative with the county, according to the release. The initiative combines “direct street outreach with holistic family services” that aim to guide youths suffering from substance abuse to treatment, the release said.

Other speakers expected at the event are Montgomery County Health Officer Kisha Davis; Steve Neff, director of pupil personnel and attendance services for Montgomery County Public Schools; and Nora Morales, a program director at Identity.

In addition, dinner and child care will be provided, the release said.

Registration for the event is recommended and can be completed at this link.

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Looks like AstraZeneca is here to stay in Montgomery County. 

The global biopharmaceutical company announced in early February that it is investing $300 million in a new manufacturing facility in Rockville, expanding its footprint and leaving little doubt about its commitment to the county. 

Expected to be operational by 2026, the facility at 9950 Medical Center Drive will bring jobs for more than 150 highly skilled employees, adding to the 4,500 at the company’s other county locations, including its research and development campus in Gaithersburg, according to the Maryland Department of Commerce.  

The British company plans to use the Rockville facility to “launch its life-saving cell therapy platforms in the U.S. for critical cancer trials and future commercial supply,” the department said in a statement.   

“This new $300 million investment will accelerate our ambition to make next-generation cell therapy a reality, ensuring that we are ready to scale and meet the demands of patients,” said Pam Cheng, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president of global operations and IT and its chief sustainability officer. 

Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Bill Tompkins said county officials are “thrilled that AstraZeneca continues to grow and invest in new technologies here in Montgomery County, which will ultimately lead to greater economic viability for our region.” 

Sky High

Change is coming to downtown Silver Spring’s skyline as plans for a 300-foot-tall residential tower above Ellsworth Place mall have taken another step forward. 

In January, mall owner GBT Realty Corp. of Tennessee submitted a sketch plan to the Montgomery County Planning Department outlining its intentions to build 450 residential units atop the five-story shopping center.  

The sketch plan, a drawing that details the maximum densities for residential and nonresidential development, is one of several plans required before a development project can be approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board. 

Ellsworth Place, at Colesville Road and Fenton Street, anchors Silver Spring’s downtown shopping and dining district and is home to major retailers and entertainment venues such as Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Foot Locker, Michaels and Dave & Buster’s. Commas, a 13,000-square-foot food hall, is expected to open this summer.

By the Numbers

When it comes to making sure local businesses comply with county rules for development and construction, the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Standards is in charge. 

Here’s how the department performed in fiscal year 2023, which started July 1, 2022, and ended June 30, 2023:

• 66,171 inspections performed by residential and fire code compliance officials (5.2% decrease from the previous year)
• 86% of commercial establishments in compliance with the fire code (9.9% increase)
• 6,747 residential and commercial building construction permits receiving final approvals (37.9% decrease)
• 86% of commercial building construction plans receiving a complete first review within 22 business days (3.9% decrease)

Source: Montgomery County Office of Management and Budget. Some percentages have been rounded.

Word on the Street

Want to keep up with the Montgomery County business community? Check out Something to Talk About, a podcast produced by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. Former Washington Post columnist Bob Levey (pictured right) and business leader Kelly Leonard (left) co-host the audio and video podcast, which can be found at thinkmoco.com/podcast. Local leaders interviewed include Katie Hecklinger, CEO of BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown; Montgomery Community Media CEO Jasmine White; and Scott Copeland, then-owner of Bethesda Magazine and MoCo360. 

This story appears in the May/June edition of Bethesda Magazine.

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During the fall of 2020, while the rest of the world was feeling stuck during the ongoing pandemic quarantine, Nicole Kumi felt empowered at home. She’d just given birth to her second child, he was eating well, and breastfeeding was going much more smoothly than it did while nursing her daughter three years earlier. But the tranquility was short-lived—after a few weeks, he became colicky, crying endlessly. 

“The deal was that I’d sleep from 8 p.m. to midnight, and my husband would sleep from midnight until 4 a.m.,” says Kumi, a behavioral health specialist who lives in Silver Spring. But when it came time for her to lie down, she couldn’t sleep. Her mind raced anxiously. One night, after she thought she heard a scratching noise in the kitchen, she took everything out of all the chests and drawers, convinced there would be evidence of a mouse. 

There wasn’t. 

The next morning, with the kitchen in complete disarray, Kumi and her husband acknowledged that she needed help. Kumi, who is 41 now and has shifted her behavioral health practice to counsel women with postpartum mood disorders, decided to contact her older daughter’s child care provider. Though her son was only 8 weeks old—and Kumi still had three weeks left of maternity leave—the woman who ran the child care center assured her that she and her staff would watch over the baby and that Kumi should get some sleep. 

“She was my savior,” Kumi says.

A dozen women listen to Kumi share this story and nod in understanding. All 12 work for Wonders Early Learning + Extended Day, a Bethesda-based child care center. They’re gathered for training on how to identify and help parents who experience a postpartum mood disorder. Such training previously targeted medical professionals who come in contact with new parents, but today’s is geared toward child care providers, who, experts are realizing, have a front-row seat to parents during a crucial postpartum period. 

“These [child care] professionals play a pivotal role in connecting and interacting with parents during such a vulnerable time,” Kumi says. 

Liza Pringle, the curriculum and instruction specialist at Wonders, opted to attend an online training session in postpartum mood disorders after sharing with Joanne Hurt, the executive director, that one pregnant mother didn’t seem like herself when dropping off an older child. After hearing about Pringle’s positive experience, Hurt contacted Mikah Goldman Berg, the chapters program manager for Postpartum Support International (PSI), a national organization with headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Berg connected Hurt with Kumi, who serves on the Maryland chapter’s board. 

PSI’s trainings on postpartum mood disorders are typically geared toward medical professionals, though some are open to anyone. The goal of the training at Wonders, Kumi says, is to ensure that child care providers understand the prevalence of postpartum mood disorders and how to provide resources. “These are people who are seeing the moms in vulnerable settings where they may have their guard down,” Kumi says. “Many parents can keep defenses high around friends and family, and then have their breakdown…in an unusual location, such as a child care drop-off or pickup.” 

During her training, Pringle was surprised to learn how often a pediatrician’s office assumed such postpartum mood disorder screenings were being done by OB-GYNs, and how often OB-GYNs thought the pediatrician’s office was doing them. “It made me realize how many women were being missed in this process, and that we had access to them and could play a role,” she says.

Only 20% of moms receive a screening, according to PSI data, despite one in five new moms and one in 10 new dads experiencing a postpartum mood disorder.

While early childhood educators can’t conduct screenings or provide diagnostic guidelines, they can be aware of signs to look for and how to intervene. “Postpartum mood disorders don’t discriminate,” Kumi says. “It can be just as prevalent in a government-funded day care as an affluent, prestigious preschool. It’s knowing what to look for that matters.”

Berg believes that training people who come in contact with new parents is one of the best ways to increase awareness of postpartum mood disorders and encourage those affected to seek help. Like Kumi, she knows this from firsthand experience following the births of her two daughters. It wasn’t until she found a support group through PSI that she understood she wasn’t alone. “Having people say, ‘You are not alone, you are not to blame, and, with help, you will be well,’ is what made a difference,” Berg says. “So many moms don’t know it’s so prevalent or where to look for help.” 

Following the training, Wonders is updating how it connects with parents who might have a postpartum mood disorder. PSI resources will be readily available to families and prominently posted, and its leadership team will incorporate check-in questions that teachers can use to aid parents. Wonders also plans to incorporate lessons learned from Kumi’s training into the routine training for teachers. 

“We can take this on,” Pringle says. “The parents can know they aren’t alone. We just need to be informed so we know the next steps to give them help.” 

This story appears in the May/June edition of Bethesda Magazine.

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United Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in downtown Silver Spring, announced it completed the world’s first successful pig-to-human kidney transplant on April 12.  The recipient is 54-year-old Lisa Pisano from Cookstown, N.J. [Source of the Spring]

Potomac Horse Center to close in July

After decades in operation, the Potomac Horse Center (PHC) will close its doors for good on July 22. According to PHC President Nancy Novograd Novograd said the center was closing because of conflict in lease negotiations with the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC).

“The tipping point in the negotiations was M-NCPPC’s insistence that the renewal of the lease was contingent on PHC raising three to five million dollars to improve M-NCPPC’s infrastructure with no assurances that PHC would be permitted to remain on the property,” Novograd wrote in a letter to PHC customers. [WTOP]

Man posing as a federal agent arrested for gold bar scam in Silver Spring

A man who identified himself to police as a German citizen was arrested for posing as a federal agent and attempting to con a Montgomery County senior citizen into converting roughly $230,000 in life’s savings into gold bars, according to police. Officials say that more than a dozen Montgomery County seniors have been victims of gold bar scams in about a year. [NBC4]

Today’s weather

Cloudy with a 30% chance of precipitation and a high of 73 degrees

In case you missed it…

McClain Delaney up to nearly $2M in fundraising ahead of primary

Sligo Creek Fest: Slippery eels, ice cream and hula hoops, oh my!

County Council takes on full week of budget deliberations

The post Silver Spring’s United Therapeutics completes world’s first successful pig-to-human kidney transplant appeared first on MoCo360.

The Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center in Derwood closed Thursday due to an outbreak of the Canine Influenza Virus (CIV), a dog respiratory disease caused by a strain of Type A influenza virus, according to center officials.

The adoption center is closed until further notice, but the center is still receiving essential intakes of sick and injured animals and dogs that pose a threat to public safety, the center said in a release. Adoptions of other animals have been paused indefinitely.

The center’s dogs have been placed in isolation and will not be moving out of the building, the release said. Around 22 additional dogs are currently showing CIV symptoms.

“Canine influenza is a highly contagious virus that spreads rapidly through a shelter’s dog population,” Chief Veterinarian Gregory Lawrence said. “We will continue to do everything we can to prevent further spread of the virus and treat those dogs that are infected.”

CIV outbreaks have been popping up across the country recently and have impacted local shelters including the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington D.C., in August 2023.

The symptoms of canine influenza are a cough, runny nose, eye discharge, fever, lethargy and poor appetite, according to the release. Sickness can range in severity from no symptoms to severe illness resulting in death, the release stated.

Most dogs recover from the virus within two to three weeks. However, some dogs may develop secondary bacterial infections that can lead to more severe illness, according to the release.

The virus typically spreads from infected dogs to other dogs or cats through respiratory droplets from barking, sneezing, nuzzling or coughing or through contaminated surfaces and clothing, according to the release.

CIV is not transmissible to people, but people can spread the virus to other dogs from their clothing, equipment or hands, the release said.

The county center recommends dog owners whose pets are showing symptoms of CIV to contact their veterinarian immediately for assessment and treatment. Dogs with virus symptoms should be separated from others for at least 28 days. In addition, dog owners should avoid trips to the dog park, daycare centers, grooming and boarding facilities.

Dog owners can speak with their veterinarian about having their pet receive the canine influenza vaccine. According to the county release, the vaccine is not required and is not considered a core vaccine for all dogs; however, dogs that visit dog parks, daycares, or boarding facilities are at more risk for CIV.

“The vaccine may not stop your dog from contracting the virus completely, although it will lessen the severity and help reduce the spread,” the release stated.

The county also asks residents who find lost pets or animals not to bring the animal to the shelter. Tips on locating the owner of lost pets can be found on the MCASAC “Found a Pet” page.

According to the release, the center will pair lost pets with willing foster families who have the “necessary supplies to care for the animal until the owner can be located or other placement options are determined.”

Additional precautions for dog owners include:

• Limit direct contact with other dogs when on walks. Do not allow them to sniff one another;
• Avoid using shared toys or dishes;
• Consider skipping daycare, boarding, grooming facilities and dog parks; and
• Contact your dog’s daycare or boarding facility and ask about recent cases and cleaning protocols.

More information about CIV can be found at the American Veterinary Medical Association website and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. The American Animal Hospital Association also has a tool to determine vaccine recommendations for dogs.

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Wheaton resident Ezra Towne leads a support group for transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming Montgomery County residents that discusses everything from finding queer friends to accessing gender-affirming medical care in the county. Twice a month, Maryland Trans*Unity members, who range in age from 18 to 78, gather virtually or in person to share resources and moral support.

Towne isn’t paid to do this and they aren’t a therapist or a medical professional. Towne says they care deeply about their community and points out there isn’t a central physical place for LGBTQ+ people to receive services and support in the county.

“The county is not doing enough,” Towne said. “There’s been no action. … I really desperately want there to be a space that is Metro accessible and [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant … a place where we can make all things happen for LGBTQ organizations.”

Towne is one of several local advocates, including the nonprofit MoCo Pride Center and some councilmembers, asking the county to dedicate more funding for services benefiting the LGBTQ+ community. Despite several recent county government reports that found that the county needs to fund more services for LGBTQ+ residents, advocates are concerned that County Executive Marc Elrich’s proposed $7.1 billion operating budget does not contain allocations specifically or obviously aimed at the LGBTQ+ community.

The exception is a $500,000 proposal toward creation of a Sexual and Gender Minorities Health Center that Elrich proposed when introducing his budget in March.

Elrich proposed in March that the $500,000 would come from $33 million reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for COVID-19 expenditures the county was hoping/expecting to receive. The county has since received the money, but advocates are concerned the allocation isn’t enough.

In an April 24 press briefing, Elrich defended the amount of funding for LGBTQ+ services in the budget.

“I hope the council passes the amendment … there are other projects in [the budget] that we know have real serious importance to the community,” Elrich said. “Given that this is a budget that required no tax increase and is fully funded and that the county has record levels of reserves, we don’t see justification for taking the position that there’s some desperate need to not do these programs.”

The creation of the proposed center is a recommended outcome of a county Office of Legislative Oversight report that found stark disparities in health care access, and specifically gender-affirming care, for trans county residents.

The report, which said the county needed to be doing more to address transgender health care disparities, specifically recommends that the council address the feasibility of creating a LGBTQ+ community center in the county, which could provide resources to residents including health care services, mental health services, support groups, meeting and recreation spaces, youth-specific services, legal services, employment support and housing services.

Another LGBTQ+ community survey released to the public by the county government in October 2023 received strong support for a LGBTQ+ focused center or community space from respondents.

A proposed special appropriation to the budget and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) would provide $500,000 to help start a new clinic in downtown Silver Spring that will be run by privately-run CCI Health Services that will offer sexual health services and gender-affirming treatment. Because it will be part of the CIP reconciliation conversations, as several county projects compete for funding, it does not yet have final approval.

“We need a more synergistic strategy to address the underlying issues identified in the report. That’s something that we’re committed to working on over the summer,” Earl Stoddard, director of the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, said during Elrich’s April 24 media briefing. “We’ve had conversations, ranging from having an LGBTQ health initiative like we do our ethnic health initiatives, but we want to figure out what the best strategy is for the community to address the underlying needs.”

County Council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) and councilmembers Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5), Evan Glass (D-At-large) and Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2) wrote a letter April 18 to the council Health and Human Services Committee, urging them to allocate an additional $500,000 in the fiscal year 2025 to the MoCo Pride Center.

The MoCo Pride Center is an organization that promotes health, well-being and social events for the local LGBTQ+ community. The organization does not have a physical building.

“The only funding the MoCo Pride Center has received up to this point from the county government has been through their contracts every year with the Department of Health and Human Services to put on Pride in the Plaza every June,” the letter says. “As we approach this fourth annual event, it is imperative that we recognize the key role the MoCo Pride Center plays in serving our county’s LGBTQIA+ community, especially the [Black, indigenous and people of color] community year round.”

Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large), Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large) and Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7) all serve on the Health and Human Services Committee.

The letter notes that MoCo Pride Center has partnered with the county government as well as other organizations on work to combat issues ranging from opioid overdoses and addressing hate and bias incidents to providing food and housing insecurity resources and inclusive multilingual family literacy programs.

“We are a linkage-to-care organization that focuses on those who are most underserved and marginalized in our community,” MoCo Pride Center CEO Phillip Alexander Downie told MoCo360.

Downie said the MoCo Pride Center’s work ranges from setting up HIV testing clinics and helping connect residents with gender-affirming care resources to hosting social events such as the annual Pride in the Plaza festival in Silver Spring. Downie said the organization doesn’t solely serve the LGBTQ+ community–anyone seeking services will receive support—and that the organization frequently works with the homeless population and people who were recently incarcerated, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“We want to ensure that we can provide these programs and provide these spaces so that people have a place to go and receive resources in a nonjudgmental way,” Downie said.

The county has relied on the MoCo Pride Center for much of its HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing services, according to council documents. The organization provided more than 250 HIV tests at Pride Month events in May and June 2023, according to county data.

The Baltimore Banner reported Wednesday that cuts have been made to HIV testing and services in the Maryland state budget. It’s unclear how or if that decision will affect Montgomery County.

Stewart said she partnered with her council colleagues on the letter because the MoCo Pride Center provides services to the LGBTQ+ community that the county government needs to support.

“As we’re looking at everything that’s going on in our country right now, we need to ensure we have providers and easy access to care … it’s fundamental to what we need to be doing in our community,” she said.

Mink shared a similar sentiment in an interview with MoCo360. She said she is concerned that the county government is too reliant on community organizations to provide services and resources that the county refers residents to.

“We’re putting a financial burden even on people who are doing the important work that the council loves to tout, and we all go and take photos for social media. But we have not funded that work in a sustainable way,” Mink said.

Around a dozen LGBTQ+ advocates gathered at the County Council meeting on April 16 to urge councilmembers to approve a $200,000 appropriation for the MoCo Pride Center for the current fiscal year, which ends July 1. Downie said the organization is facing increased demand for services, as it has been “bridging the gap to provide basic necessities” for LGBTQ+ county residents.

“This is a real and present emergency. Threats of violence [toward the LGBTQ+ community] persist and are extreme,” Downie testified to the council during the April 16 meeting.

Lee Blinder, founder and director of Trans Maryland, an organization that advocates for the trans community and helps connect trans Marylanders with resources, shared experiences similar to Towne’s of providing unpaid support to the county’s LGBTQ+ community.

“I’ve often been the first call that people make in Montgomery County when a young person who is transgender or queer is kicked out of their house,” Blinder testified to the council. “I’m not paid by the county to be a 24/7 youth crisis housing responder. However, it is part of my uncompensated duties because I’m very dedicated to our young trans and queer people.”

In interviews over the course of 2023, multiple trans county residents and advocates told MoCo360 that it was extremely difficult to access gender-affirming care within the county. Several residents reported traveling to Washington, D.C., or Howard County to access appropriate care.

“I can’t really give medical advice because I’m not a medical professional,” Towne told MoCo360 in an interview. “But so many people come to Trans*Unity looking for that, and they don’t know where to start. I wish there were more resources.”

Downie said he’s hopeful that the county government will show more financial support for the LGBTQ+ community, but he’ll have to “wait and see.” He said he worries that the most marginalized county residents aren’t always able to testify in support of these appropriations because of jobs, transportation access and other responsibilities.

“People also need to realize that those who are most affected by the problem don’t have the agency to come and just show up to all the government political forums,” Downie said. “It takes agency and privilege to be able to show up in a space for free and to advocate for yourself and your community.”

The council must vote on a final fiscal year 2025 county budget by June 1. The new fiscal year starts July 1.

The post LGBTQ+ organizations say they are ‘over-extended,’ urge more county funding appeared first on MoCo360.

Latino youth in Montgomery County are struggling with substance abuse and where to find help, according to a report released Thursday by the University of Maryland School of Public Health in collaboration with Gaithersburg-based Identity Inc.

The report found that Latino youth and their families in the county are eager for more education, prevention and intervention services, especially programs that are culturally and linguistically appropriate.

“If we do not act, it is not just substance abuse issues, but educational issues, economic development issues,” said Diego Uriburu, the executive director of Identity, a nonprofit that offers programs and services to the Latino community and serves thousands of families in the county each year. “We’re talking about big numbers of young people, the next generation of county leaders that may not be.”

In November 2023, a report from the County Council found that 42% of opioid overdose-related ER visits in the county were Latino youths, the largest percentage of any other racial or ethnic demographic, the report stated. In 2023, there were 99 fatal overdoses in the county, according to a County Council press release which did not state what percentage of the deaths were Latino youths.

Some Latino parents have also been at the forefront of the passing of legislation at the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis that calls for tougher punishment for fentanyl and heroin dealers. In March, two mothers who had lost their teenage children to fentanyl joined County Councilmember Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) in Annapolis to advocate for the legislation that ultimately did not pass.

Fani-González told MoCo360 that in March 2023 she had a meeting with Latino parents that opened her eyes to “how desperate people were” and how language and immigration status are barriers for many in seeking out treatment.

“They are facing a crisis. And I think we tend to forget that this pandemic, people think it’s gone, but the impact that the pandemic has done on our children is still there,” Fani-González said. “We are not out of this and this is why we need to invest more in mental health programs and recreational programs for kids.”

Uriburu said that one of his biggest concerns for Latino youths in the county is social isolation and its impacts on their mental health. He said that the young people he works with often cite a lack of recreation programs or access to extracurricular school activities.

The report stems from an assessment of 54 young people, including middle school, high school and GED students; 48 parents; and five educators who were surveyed in a series of focus groups. The sample reflected those who had recently immigrated from Latin America as well as more established families, the report states. From August to November 2023, 15 focus groups facilitated by Identity were held and a set of recommendations were developed in response to what the groups discussed.

Amy Lewin, an associate professor in the Department of Family Science at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health, co-authored the report and said that she has worked with Identity for eight years on projects and research. She said that Identity approached her last year after the nonprofit saw an urgency to better understand the issue and the needs of the Latino community they serve.

According to the report, middle and high school students said that they had been exposed to people using and selling alcohol and drugs such as cannabis in their schools (particularly in the bathrooms), neighborhoods and public places such as Metro stations and bus stops. The students reported that they had many questions about drugs but did not have access to a trusted source of information and felt worried about bullying and peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol.

The report also found that the county’s Latino youths face unique stressors and adversities and often feel lonely, anxious, stressed, depressed and disconnected from their peers. They cited one way to feel a connection and gain information comes from social media.

Latino parents and educators who were involved in the research offered their perspective, one that is deeply concerned about substance use and how to protect children.

According to the report, parents felt comfortable talking with their children about substances but did not know how to have the conversations in constructive ways. Oftentimes parents use fear tactics as a tool to dissuade their child from using drugs such as threats of punishment, telling their children “You’ll end up in the hospital, cemetery or jail,” or that drugs cause cancer, homelessness or organ failure, according to the report.

Parents also expressed frustration with schools around the issue, perceiving the schools as not providing adequate monitoring of school bathrooms, interventions or consequences for students who are caught using drugs, the report stated. However, parents also recognized that school suspension was not a useful consequence for substance use and argued for schools to mandate meetings with counselors for students caught using drugs.

The report also showed that parents desired to work in closer partnership with schools on the issue of substance use prevention and “contribute to the development and implementation of solutions.”

Lewin, a clinical psychologist, said that working with parents and caregivers is an “underutilized piece of substance abuse prevention.”

“We have this stereotype that teenagers don’t really care about their parents anymore, they turn to their friends instead, but research has shown time and time again that while it is true that young people become more invested in the opinions and the experiences they have with their peers, they still very much value and pay attention to things that their parents teach them and tell them,” Lewin said.

Lewin agreed that the school system could work more closely with parents in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways “to be the support that their children are actually looking for.”

Rolando Santiago, the chief of Behavioral Health and Crisis Services for the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, said that he was grateful for the report from Identity and the University of Maryland and saw that the report would help the county in its current emergency response to the issue.

Santiago explained that the county is working with Identity on providing an emergency response in the Aspen Hill, Glenmont and Wheaton areas of the county, where there is a high proportion of Latino and Hispanic residents. He said that the response began in mid-February and involves Identity staff engaging with youths and their families and helping them find resources and treatment.

“They’re connecting with the youth on the street and places where they’re congregating to use these dangerous substances,” Santiago said. “And this is maybe one of the most important elements of the engagement, that one of the purposes is to engage them in treatment when the youth is ready and willing.”

Since the start of the program, Identity staff have connected with at least 30 youths, some of whom have been referred to the nonprofit by area schools, and three have willingly decided to get treatment, Santiago said.

The current program is being piloted with the hopes of expanding to other areas of the county, according to Santiago.

Another challenge that the county is working on is that Latino youths who are newcomers to the United States may not know where to get help or are afraid that they will be turned away due to their immigration status.

“Montgomery County is very good at providing services no matter what your immigration status is,” Santiago said, noting that the county’s outreach is also focused on engaging with youth to let them know that it’s safe to use services.

Santiago also said that the county is working with the state to bring a youth treatment facility to the state that would provide inpatient residential services.

“We do not have in the entire state of Maryland a facility that provides inpatient residential care for youth with substance use challenges, and [a facility] that accepts Medicaid,” Santiago said, noting that there are some private providers in D.C. and Maryland and a youth facility in Delaware.

Santiago said that county and state officials have been “working feverishly” over the last few months to open the facility. “We hope that within the next six months, this can be opened. I don’t think a week passes or a day passes, that we’re not working on the intricacies of the contracting process and the funding process,” he said.

The post As Latino youth struggle with substance use, families and young people are eager for more resources in Spanish appeared first on MoCo360.