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JULY 24, 2020
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
EDUCATION
OPTIONS FOR MD SCHOOLS
Counties around the state can make up their own plans, deadline set for Aug. 14 – Page 18
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Meehan will push, but not require masks Collective effort needed to avoid greater difficulty
JOSH KIM/OCEAN CITY TODAY
CLEARER SAILING The Ocean City Council on Monday voted to approve amendments to its waterways code. The amendments will prevent bulkheads from encroaching into the waterways and help clarify conflicts between the city’s standard and the Maryland Department of Environment’s standard.
More restaurants temporarily close to clean, regroup By Elizabeth Bonin Staff Writer (July 24, 2020) The string of restaurants temporarily closing because of employees with covid-19 and other issues, such as extreme heat, continues. Restaurants that recently confirmed positive cases include Albertino’s on 131st Street, Barn 34 on 34th Street and Pit-n-Pub on 28th Street. Harborside Bar and Grille in West Ocean City and 45th Street Taphouse Bar and Grille closed for employee testing, but have not yet indicated if any returned positive. Bull on the Beach closed as a preSee RESTAURANTS Page 5
County lauds safety efforts while covid-19 cases spike By Elizabeth Bonin Staff Writer (July 24, 2020) In response to the letter Gov. Larry Hogan sent to county officials on July 14 to warn them of bars and restaurants violating covid-19 guidelines, the Worcester County Commissioners talked about enforcement with their departments on Tuesday. “We have establishments throughout the county that aren’t following the rules, that aren’t doing the right thing,”said County Commissioner Joe Mitrecic said. “Our numbers have started to creep up a small amount.” Mitrecic said that to avoid a second shut down, everybody needs to follow the guidelines, especially con-
sidering that the weekly number of new coronavirus cases have doubled each week for the past month. Health Officer Becky Jones said the county has stepped up screening with free coronavirus testing at the West Ocean City Park N’ Ride on Mondays and Wednesdays and at the health department location in Pocomoke City on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also talked about the importance of contact tracing. “If we get a positive, then we investigate, talk to, interview that positive and find out who their contacts are,” Jones said. “So you can have one positive and then a circle of 10 that they See COMMISSIONERS Page 4
By Josh Kim Staff Writer (July 24, 2020) As more Ocean City restaurants temporarily shutter their operations and as the county’s weekly rate of covid-19 infections doubles, a rising tide of concern threatens to wash away the sense of security some seem to feel on the island. Mayor Rick Meehan, who has repeatedly said the resort is not immune from the virus, remains calm, but stresses that it will take a collective effort to protect the city from extreme misfortune, as the city may not have the tools it needs if business goes dark once more. “I think when we reopened, we all realized that we were going to hit a few bumps along the way,” Meehan said. “That was inevitable, and with the increased testing, which is a good thing for everybody so they can do contact tracing, we anticipated that we would see some additional positive tests and some additional cases.” As of Wednesday, Worcester County had 435 confirmed cases of covid-19, according to the state health department website. As of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Atlantic General Hospital had five covid-19 patients in ICU, one on a ventilator, another on vapotherm, four in med/surg and one person under investigation. The hospital has had four patients come off a ventilator, and has discharged 29 patients who are on their way to recovery, according to hospital representatives. Twelve restaurants have closed explicitly due to covid-19, while several other restaurants have closed either out of precautionary measures or for other stated reasons. Since the advent of the pandemic in See MEEHAN Page 2