Baltimore County Expanding Testing As COVID-19 Cases Spike

TOWSON, MD — To help combat the surge in COVID-19 cases and expand testing operations, Baltimore County will soon open a large-scale testing site at the former Sears location at White Marsh Mall, County Executive Johnny Olszewski said during a news conference Wednesday.

The upcoming testing site, which is scheduled to open Monday, will complement Baltimore County’s existing testing sites in Randallstown, Towson and Dundalk, Olszewski said.

In addition, the county is exploring the possibility of extending the hours of its existing testing sites and also looking into weekend availability.

Olszewski added that the county has also purchased 100,000 at-home tests to provide directly to residents.

"We expect delivery of the first batch of test kits in the coming days, and we will make sure these are equitably available to all residents at locations throughout Baltimore County beginning this Monday," he said.

The county executive said locations and times where residents can secure the tests will be announced on the county's website prior to distribution.

According to Olszewski, Baltimore County continues to see an unprecedented number of COVID-19 cases as the omicron variant spreads exponentially.

Over just the past month, Baltimore County’s average positivity rate has increased 400 percent, the average number of hospitalized COVID patients in the county has increased over 300 percent. Statewide, daily cases are up over 500 percent, recent state data shows.

"We’ve continued to hear from our hospital leaders in the region about the dire situation we are facing. Emergency department are full, and hospitals and ICUs are overwhelmed," the county executive said. "More people in Maryland are now hospitalized with COVID than ever before, and there are just eight staffed ICU beds currently available. We expect that this may only continue to worsen."

As health care professionals and first responders continue to work around the clock to treat patients impacted by COVID-19, Olszewski reminded residents to show compassion for those working the frontlines. The request comes after Olszewski recently toured Greater Baltimore Medical Center and learned of a health care professional who was recently berated by an patient upset that they couldn't get a COVID-19 test result in 15 minutes. Security ultimately had to be called.

"It was prettying staggering for me to hear what some of our health care professionals and first responders are dealing with," the county executive said. "Today, I’m calling first for kindness towards those who are serving us because they are working around the clock and they are tired. They’re exhausted, and yet I am in awe of what I saw firsthand yesterday."

As of Wednesday, over 600,000 residents in Baltimore County are vaccinated, that’s roughly 73 percent of the population, according to data. During the news conference, Olszewski continued to stress the importance of getting vaccinated and boosted.

"If you have not been vaccinated, get vaccinated. If you have not been boosted, and you’re eligible, get boosted. Do it now," he stressed. "Those who choose to remain unvaccinated, to be clear, are driving this staggering increase in hospitalizations. As a result of that, we’re also seeing an unprecedented burden on our emergency services."

To listen to Wednesday's news conference in its entirety, see below:

Interested in a COVID-19 test in Baltimore County? View testing locations at this link.