'Do Not Wait' | Prince George's County Executive Says Men Are Waiting Too Late To Seek Treatment For COVID-19
LAUREL, MD. (WJZ) -- As the numbers come in and as Prince George's County collects more data, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said they are noticing men, in particular, are succumbing to the coronavirus, and that it may be due to men waiting too late to get treatment.
"We're very concerned that men have been waiting. Dr. Carter tells me that we ought to really send home the message that if you're having symptoms do not wait, because we were so distressed to learn that at least a couple of our residents died at home last week, because they waited to late to seek medical treatment," the county executive said.
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The county announced that residents can now text 911 if they are unable to speak, but they don't want people waiting to seek treatment if they think they are sick or if they have the virus.
"But we don't want people waiting and we're very concerned that we're seeing that some of our men are waiting too late at home," Alsobrooks said.
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Gov. Larry Hogan and County Executive Alsobrooks announced the reopening of the Laurel Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon, and with it, more beds to accept COVID-19 patients.
The renovated hospital will now provide an additional 135 beds including 35 intensive care beds to treat coronavirus patients. It will be staffed by 400 contracted medical professionals and was opened months before originally planned.
As of Wednesday morning, Prince George's County has had 3875 cases of COVID-19 and Maryland has 14,775 confirmed cases. In the past 35 days, 631 Marylanders have lost their lives to this deadly virus.
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.