The governors of Maryland and Virginia ordered the closure of non-essential businesses Monday as further measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
After Maryland recorded 187 new coronavirus cases this weekend, Gov. Larry Hogan ordered that all non-essential businesses, which are not deemed critical infrastructure by the federal government, to be closed starting at 5 p.m. Monday.
The business sectors deemed essential include health care, agriculture, food stores, public works and waste water treatment, financial services, communications companies, heavy manufacturing, public safety and law enforcement, transportation and defense-based industries.
The Republican governor said he expects the economic impact of the pandemic to be significant.
“So we don’t take any of these steps and hundreds of thousands or millions of people die in America,” Mr. Hogan said during a press conference. “We do take these steps, and hundreds of thousands or millions of people are going to be hurt economically, and it’s a terrible choice, so the solution is we try to help both. We try to save lives and try to help the economy.”
Mr. Hogan announced a $175 million relief package that offers up to $50,000 in loans and $10,000 in grants to small businesses hurt during the pandemic.
He also said the state will deal with anticipated hospital overcrowding by setting up a field hospital in Baltimore and by adding 900 beds now and 1,400 more by April with a field hospital at the city convention center.
Health statistics show that 29 coronavirus patients are hospitalized and the state has 9,400 hospital beds.
Maryland now has 288 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday closed schools until the end of the academic year, banned gatherings of more than 10 people and ordered the closure of non-essential businesses such as theaters, museums, bowling alleys, fitness centers, salons and spas for at least the next 30 days.
The Democratic governor said brick-and-mortar businesses that are not deemed essential but are allowed to stay open must have no more than 10 customers inside at a time. He did not specify to which businesses he was referring.
Mr. Northam said his executive order closing recreational businesses takes effect at midnight Tuesday.
He noted that there are 1.2 million children under the age of 12 in Virginia and 80,000 of them have parents who are health care workers. He called on private child care providers to help deal with out-of-school children and said the state Department of Social Service is working to provide emergency child care to children of essential staff.
“I know that the next several weeks, the next several months, will be difficult. They will require everyone to change the way that we live, the way we interact with each other,” the governor said at a news conference.
Mr. Northam, who is a doctor, added that Virginians can expect to see a rise in depression, alcoholism and domestic abuse.
Virginia has recorded 219 coronavirus cases, and the District has reported 116 cases.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday asked city residents “to be a good neighbor and stay at home if you don’t need to be outside,” stopping short of issuing a stay at home order.
Miss Bowser said she was reluctant to institute a shelter-in-place but said more restrictions on businesses could be coming soon. She has essentially closed the Tidal Basin to stem the spread of the coronavirus among visitors seeking to view the famed cherry blossom trees.
The Democratic mayor said the District is preparing for a surge of COVID-19 cases by considering opening empty hospital floors and using empty hotels or furloughed nursing homes to make space for more hospital beds.
Miss Bowser also called on Congress to work on an economic relief package and President Trump to make more testing and supplies available.
“The White House must ensure that the nation’s capital, actually anywhere in our great nation, that we have the ability to do testing and provide life-saving care,” she said. “We can do all the logistics and planning but we need centralized procurement and distribution of these life saving supplies.”
• Rowan Scarborough contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
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