County OK’s Relief Fund for Small Biz, Nonprofits
The St. Mary’s County commissioners have approved a COVID-19 small business and nonprofit relief fund.
St. Mary’s County recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic hardship for many small businesses and nonprofit agencies.
The new grant program will have a maximum budget of $2 million. The goal is to provide grants to support certain small businesses and nonprofit agencies, based in St. Mary’s County that have realized significant financial hardship as a result of the virus outbreak. Therefore, the relief program targets businesses and nonprofits with 30 or less FTE employees that have experienced a drop-in revenue of at least 50%.
Grants may be used for working capital to support payroll expenses, rent, mortgage payments, utility expenses, or other similar expenses that occur in the ordinary course of business.
Small businesses and nonprofits will have access to grant funding up to $7,500. Entities with 15 or less employees are eligible for grants of $5,000 and entities with 16 to 30 employees are eligible for grants of $7,500 (grant amount not to exceed yearly average of two months revenue).
Eligible businesses and nonprofits can submit an online application starting at 11 am Tuesday, June 2, 2020, here.
Applicants are encouraged to visit the grant portal at any time before June 2 for more information on required documents, applicant eligibility, a sample application, and to create a user account before submission of the application.
The application portal will be open until 325 qualified applications have been received.
Contact Kellie Hinkle, deputy director of the St. Mary’s County Department of Economic Development, at [email protected] or 240-925-7178.
Updated Statistics Wednesday, May 27
The Maryland Department of Health website, as of 10:45 am Wednesday, May 27, reports the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Maryland is at 48,423, up from 736 since May 26.
All data provided by the state health department is preliminary and is subject to change based on additional reporting. Information for cases by ZIP code and cases and deaths by race represent data that is available to MDH. Data for ZIP codes with 7 or fewer cases is suppressed. MDH is continuously evaluating its data and reporting systems and will make updates as more data becomes available. Click here.
Reported cases in Southern Maryland: 396 in St. Mary’s County, 314 in Calvert County, and 1,008 in Charles County.
The St. Mary’s County Health Department offered this information as of 10:45 am Wednesday, May 27:
Confirmed Cases in St. Mary’s County Residents: 396
Deaths: 15
Negative Test Results: 3159*
Hospitalizations: 60**
Recovered and Released From Isolation: 165
Male: 230
Female: 165
Data unavailable/not identified: 1
Case Breakdown by Race/Ethnicity:
African-American/Black: 133
Caucasian/White: 150
Hispanic/Latino: 29
Other or Not Identified: 84
Case Breakdown in Long-term Care Facilities***
Charlotte Hall Veterans Home
Residents: 122
Staff: 50
Chesapeake Shores
Residents: 2
Staff: 6
St. Mary’s Nursing Center
Residents: 0
Staff: 0
Please note: Due to a technical issue, local zip code mapping will be delayed until further notice.
*Laboratories reporting results electronically through the National Electronic Data Surveillance System – Data from January 1, 2020 – present.
**Number of St. Mary’s County residents who have been hospitalized at any hospital in Maryland due to COVID-19. Data is not reflective of current patient status. Emergency Department visits removed from total count.
***For additional information on cases in congregate facility settings, visit the Maryland Health Care Facilities Resource Page.
St. Mary’s data will be updated at least daily by noon at the county health department’s website linked to above.
The Maryland Department of Health offered this statewide information as of 11:45 am Wednesday, May 27:
Confirmed Cases in Maryland: 48,423
Negative Test Results: 213,632
Number of Deaths: 2,270
Number of Probable Deaths: 122
Current Hospitalized: 1,338
Acute Care: 818
Intensive Care: 520
Ever Hospitalized: 8,281
Released from Isolation: 3,401
Male: 23,217
Female: 25,206
Maryland residents can now see the number of cases by ZIP code. Click on the state’s website linked to above.
UPDATE: Food Program Schedule
An outbreak of COVID-19 has been identified involving St. Mary’s County Public Schools employees; the public health response involves universal testing of individuals working in the food preparation and distribution system for community feeding programs.
As a result, the SMCPS drive-up meal service at all locations will be closed Thursday, May, 28, for deep cleaning and employee testing.
“Thankfully, exposure risk to community members who received food through the SMCPS drive-up meal service is extremely low as distribution did not involve close contact between staff and those picking up food,” said Dr. Meena Brewster, St. Mary’s County health officer. “Our health department is working very closely with SMCPS to investigate and respond to this situation.”
SMCPS is working with St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services, St. Mary’s County Health Department, and the St. Mary’s County Department of Emergency Services to organize a backup food distribution mechanism that will commence on Friday, May 29, after the deep cleaning is complete.
“We are doing everything we can to establish a new process for food pick-up while ensuring the safety of our team members and of the families who rely on these meals,” said Dr. James Scott Smith, St. Mary’s County superintendent.
Further information/updates to meal distribution through the community feeding program may be forthcoming.
For local COVID-19 data, updates and information, go to www.smchd.org/coronavirus or call the COVID-19 hotline at 301-475-4911 from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday.
