'I Want Our Kids To Be Able To Play,' County Closes Football

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Steuart Pittman loves football. That's why the county executive's Thursday announcement pained him all the more.

Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks closed this fall's youth tackle football season to slow the spread of coronavirus. Flag football, however, is still permitted. The state postponed all fall and winter high school sports earlier this month.

The moves follow Gov. Larry Hogan's coronavirus recovery guidelines that prohibit full-contact sports until the state moves into Stage Three of reopening. All Maryland jurisdictions are still in Stage Two.

Anne Arundel County entered the second phase of recuperation on June 5, permitting limited indoor dining and shopping. "High Risk" activities, like playing tackle football and opening entertainment venues, can resume when Maryland advances to the next step of its healing process.

A move into the third and final portion of reopening would require a widely-available, Food and Drug Administration-approved coronavirus vaccine or treatment. Hogan's RoadMap to Recovery says "there is no realistic timeline yet" for entering this last recovery period.

The closure comes weeks after Recreation and Parks permitted limited football practices. That permission may have led some players and parents to believe that health officials would soon approve the fall season, the county executive says. Though Pittman "hoped that our state would be in Phase 3 by now," he maintains that Anne Arundel County still isn't ready for football or a full reopening.

"It's a great American sport that builds the kind of discipline and teamwork that we need so badly in our communities," Pittman said in a Thursday afternoon statement. "I want our kids to be able to play, and I want our Ravens to be able to win that Super Bowl. I want this pandemic to be over."

Pittman added that his next priority is safely returning students to the classroom. The county Department of Health will soon announce the number of new daily cases that the district needs to meet before heading back to school buildings.

Later Thursday afternoon, state leaders recommended that counties track their positivity rate and new infections per capita to determine whether they can safely reopen schools. They say jurisdictions should aim to keep their seven-day positivity rate below 5 percent. They also advise districts to shoot for a weekly average of less than five new coronavirus cases-per-day per 100,000 people.

When a region meets both of those metrics, it is probably safe to partially reopen schools, health officials say.

Anne Arundel County's most recent data clock the positivity rate at 3.19 percent, which is .13 percent less than the statewide clip. The jurisdiction has been under the 5 percent benchmark since June 22. The local positivity rate topped out at 28.24 percent on April 16.

While the county meets the percent positive guideline, it does not meet the new infections per capita benchmark. Over the past week, Anne Arundel County has averaged 8.11 new cases-per-day per 100,000 residents.

The county must average less than 28.96 new coronavirus infections-per-day over a rolling week to meet the state's per capita suggestion. Anne Arundel County has averaged 47 new cases-per-day during the last seven days.

"I understand that sticking to the science and complying with the CDC, state, and county health recommendations is unpopular with many constituents," Pittman said. "But if we can prevent the continued spread of the disease, and get our numbers low enough to get our kids back to school, I am glad to take the heat."

The county has the fifth most coronavirus infections in the state, with 8,190. The virus has killed 223 county residents.

Anne Arundel's coronavirus-related hospitalizations have slowed as of late. The virus had 22 Anne Arundel County residents in the hospital on Wednesday. That is the lowest since April 3 when 21 locals were hospitalized. Thursday saw 27 hospitalizations.

Fewer than 50 coronavirus patients have been in the hospital at a time since June 14. The county's recent high of 49 hospitalizations came on July 24. More than 170 people were hospitalized in Anne Arundel County on the pandemic's April 21 peak.

"I am sorry that this battle is so difficult, and that the pain is inflicted on some more than others," Pittman said. "I hope you will stand with me to prevent the spread of this virus in our communities."

Patch Editor Elizabeth Janney contributed reporting to this article.

RELATED:

• AACPS Acts 'Aggressively But Prudently,' Remains Online This Fall
• Maryland Schools May Begin Safely Reopening: Governor Hogan
• State Postpones High School Fall, Winter Seasons; AACPS To Craft Plan To Engage Student-Athletes In Fall Semester

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