The omicron variant has given them a chance to do the right thing this time around.

These issues could have been resolved within the span of a single legislative session as well, but our sitting legislators and leaders missed the mark. Unfortunately, the negative experiences I’ve had with our system are common among Marylanders. After the order was lifted, my clientele shriveled up and I had no choice but to apply for unemployment benefits to keep our family from becoming homeless, but then Governor Hogan started attacking vulnerable Marylanders by trying to end federal unemployment benefits and reinstituting work requirements to receive any funds, causing me and hundreds of thousands of others to be unjustly kicked off the program. Speaking personally, I had a small computer repair business that was absolutely destroyed by the pandemic due to my being unable to meet with clients because of the stay-home order. Activists for years up to that point had been pressuring the General Assembly and governor’s office to fix these, but to no avail.Īs such, when millions of people suddenly were furloughed and unable to work due to the stay-home order and had to apply for unemployment benefits, among other things, the system could not compensate and people were left without the means to afford living expenses, an issue that affects people to this day. Even before the pandemic, there were major issues with Maryland’s social safety net that left many people without the funds they needed and were entitled to having paid into the system. During that initial period, we saw many things happen: for one, the coronavirus cases began to peak and our hospitals were not overrun with affected patients, unlike other states that decided against lockdowns, or even mask mandates. In the month following the first 105 cases of coronavirus in this state, we graduated from limited group events and closing public places to a fully-fledged stay-at-home order and partial lockdown. Truthfully, the way we went about the lockdown and subsequent measures was terrible. Almost two years into this pandemic, and with the omicron variant raging through our populace, it is time for more drastic action to come from Maryland’s government, especially given how the Biden administration does not seem to have a plan to tackle the ongoing outbreak, using the lessons we’ve learned so far from the pandemic. As such, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people were left scrambling to stay safe while also making sure their livelihoods were kept intact and they could keep a roof over their heads.Īll in all, Maryland’s response to the pandemic, like most other states and countries, was haphazard, lackluster, and ended up hurting a lot of people in the long run. Larry Hogan’s state of emergency declaration, the extent of the lockdown was piecemeal and took too long to fully implement. In the wake of rising cases and deaths, a statewide lockdown was declared, though due to the lack of information we had at the time due to its spread, after Gov. When the pandemic first hit Maryland in 2020, it sent us all into a tailspin from which we have yet to recover. The writer is a Germantown resident, activist and Democratic candidate for the District 39 state Senate seat in Montgomery County.

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