Health Dept. Changes COVID Operations

The St. Mary’s County Health Department is changing its COVID-19 operations, including testing, vaccination, contact tracing, and data reporting.

The COVID testing and vaccination site located at the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department will close today, April 14.

Effective April 18, SMCHD will offer COVID-19 testing and vaccinations to the community at the following locations:

• SMCHD Main Office at 21580 Peabody St. in Leonardtown
• Behavioral Health Hub at 21625 Great Mills Road in Lexington Park

Testing continues to be a key strategy in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the community. Get tested if you are experiencing symptoms or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19. For more information on SMCHD testing, including hours of operation, click here.

Additionally, everyone 5 and older should get and stay up to date with their COVID vaccines for protection from severe illness and to help protect others in our community. For more information, available SMCHD vaccine clinic dates, or to make an appointment, click here. COVID-19 vaccines are also available through primary care offices and local pharmacies.

Contact Tracing

SMCHD is demobilizing local COVID-19 contact tracing efforts effective May 31, 2022. After this date, community members that are confirmed positive for COVID-19 should make efforts to notify their close contacts personally.

Data Reporting

Updates to the local COVID-19 Data Dashboard will be limited to regular business days, to exclude weekends and holidays. View the dashboard here.

“As we move into this next phase of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are demobilizing some of our daily public health operations while maintaining readiness to respond to future surges ahead and to address our long-term community recovery needs,” said Dr. Meena Brewster, St. Mary’s County health officer. “I am so very, very grateful for every single person who has worked to support our COVID-19 response efforts during these incredibly challenging past two years. Our health department team members, our community’s healthcare and other essential workers, the partners who have worked with us on the COVID-19 response – they truly are heroes for this community. Every day I am humbled and inspired by their compassion and resilience. I thank them for their service and especially honor those who will now be leaving our local public health workforce.”

The St. Mary’s County Health Department will be closed on Friday, April 15, for the Good Friday holiday. This includes the main office in Leonardtown, all satellite offices, and COVID-19 testing and vaccine operations. Normal operations will resume on Monday, April 18.

Learn more about SMCHD programs, services, and hours of operations click here.