Coronavirus Latest: Young Mourns Baltimore's 102 COVID-19 Victims

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young on Friday mourned the 102 people who have died in the city during the coronavirus pandemic and urged people to continue practicing social distancing.

"That's 102 families in our city who are hurt and grieving, and I grieve along with them," Young said at a briefing in the War Memorial Building late Friday afternoon.

As numerous states begin the process of reopening businesses shuttered by the pandemic, Young struck a cautious tone.

"All the health experts that I've been listening to have said it's too early," he said.

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Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa urged people to continue social distancing during warmer weather this weekend. Baltimore's Fire Chief Niles Ford revealed that 14 members of his department have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic and 91 have been quarantined.

Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said there has been a slight drop in violent crime and a sharp drop in property crime during the coronavirus crisis.

Outside, protestors honked and displayed signs asking for more safeguards and personal protective equipment for front-line workers.

It comes as Maryland recorded its largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic started -- 1,730 -- and almost 5,000 new negative tests, a sign that the state has ramped up its testing capabilities.

Governor Larry Hogan says some of the 500,000 new tests he obtained from South Korea are on their way to nursing homes. He signed an executive order earlier this week mandating universal testing of residents and staff statewide.

While many Maryland nursing homes have been hit hard by COVID-19, the highest number of deaths is at Sagepoint Senior Living in La Plata where more than 30 residents have died. 80-year-old William Goldsmith is among the victims.

His daughter, Joan Bryan, said her father was loved.

"About an hour after I left him, he passed away," Bryan said.

"It's not going to bring my father back, but going forward, there needs to be a lot of improvements."

President Donald Trump left the White House for the first time in more than a month. He headed to Maryland's Camp David near Thurmont for what the White House described as a "working trip," CBS News reported.

The President has pushed to reopen the country, and Maryland's only Republican congressman, Rep. Andy Harris, told Newsmax earlier this week that some rural parts of the state should be able to reopen.

"The problem is the governor is treating the state as one homogeneous state, but it's not. It actually has rural areas where the prevalence of the disease is quite low," he said.

Neighboring Pennsylvania announced Friday that 24 rural counties would begin reopening on May 8.

Hogan said on April 20 that he did not want to reopen the state piecemeal fearing people would flock to those areas if he relaxed orders.

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.

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