Frankly, Gov. Larry Hogan seemed a bit late with his pithy statement last week on the fall surge of coronavirus cases: “wear the damn mask.”
The number of COVID-19 cases is spiking in Anne Arundel County and the rest of Maryland, setting several single-day records for spread. It is expected to continue rising into the holiday season.
Some people have refused to cooperate with these basic steps at all. For the remainder of Marylanders, Hogan’s comments may help. Yet, people are tired of being told to wear a mask, wash their hands and watch their social distance.
However, division among the state’s leadership continues hindering a united approach keeping the spread of the virus in check until an effective vaccine can be developed and distributed. News Monday of promising test results from Pfizer at least makes that seem more realistic than an undefined goal.
Public health officials have been warning for weeks that this moment was coming. After Hogan and Maryland did a remarkably good job unifying the state early in this pandemic, the discord that started over the summer lull has made the response seem fractured.
Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman and others have said they rarely hear from the governor, and Pittman regularly snipes at Hogan around the margins. The governor, for his part, has been openly critical of decisions by Pittman. He allowed doubt to creep into the public mind about the county’s pace of reopening social events, businesses and schools.
This relationship has not been helpful.
Some of this dynamic may change with new leadership in Washington.
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday implored Americans to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He met with a newly formed coronavirus advisory board he charged with developing a national blueprint for fighting the pandemic.
Only the federal government, with financial help and a commitment to action, can make it clear that a choice for public health safety is not a choice against the economy. Only the federal government can get all the states using the same metrics, adhering to the same standards and practices and responding in the same way to the voices of doom on social media.
Biden’s first steps should be taken as encouraging signs. Yet we are months from the Democrat from Delaware taking office, and there is plenty of room for improvement until then.
As the numbers advance further into worrisome territory, it seems likely that Pittman and county health officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman will move to draw back on reopening steps.
It is crucial Hogan states his support for local decision making. We already witnessed a party-line County Council vote that stopped short of ending Pittman’s emergency powers in the pandemic. The effort by Councilman Nathan Volke invoked the governor’s name as its only rationale.
Hogan should make clear that he won’t support similar spectacles.
With limits already set on bars, restaurants, theaters and other typical social hubs, family gatherings and house parties are becoming the biggest driver of new cases, according to the county.
One way to address that is a statewide strategy on limits that will address confusion and resentment caused by different standards in different jurisdictions. Only Hogan can do that.
There are differences between jurisdictions like Anne Arundel County and places such as Alleghany County, but even rural parts of the state spared a swelling of cases are now seeing their first COVID-19 surges.
In the absence of steps by Hogan, Anne Arundel, Prince George’s, Howard and Montgomery County should work to coordinate efforts, or perhaps Central Maryland as a whole might collaborate.
It will be less effective than leadership from the Governor’s Mansion.
After six years, Hogan has yet to demonstrate the ability to engage people who disagree. He has a good sense of what’s right and fair, but building on common ground takes a different kind of leadership. It’s up to him to show that he has it.
We agree with the governor. Wear the damn mask.
We can add that it’s past time to build some damn consensus on the next steps for Maryland in the coronavirus pandemic.
