In Rockville, praise, criticism for Montgomery County’s COVID-19 response

Small protest group wants quicker reopening; other small group says policies ‘helping people’

June 8, 2020 9:18 p.m.

Two small groups of people gathered on plazas outside the Executive Office Building on Monday afternoon in Rockville to share competing messages.

One claimed local officials are purposefully crashing the economy by not reopening businesses and schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. The other, stationed yards away, praised Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich for his work, saying it “values human lives over profit.”

The protest group was led by Robin Ficker, who in April announced he is running for governor in 2022 after running numerous times for county positions, including executive.

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A handful of protesters with him gathered at noon on Monday to hold a press conference, where they sharply criticized Elrich. Ficker and Mark Lovett called on Elrich and other local elected officials to “reopen Montgomery County now.”

Montgomery County, as one of jurisdictions in Maryland hit hardest by the coronavirus, has been slowed to loosen restrictions and reopen its economy. The county has completed one week in its opening phase.

Almost all of the rest of the state, however, entered its second phase — with more places opening back up — on Friday.

Late last month, when Elrich announced at an outdoor press conference that Montgomery County was about to start reopening, a group of protesters yelled insults such as “Fascist” at him, trying to shout him down as he spoke.

Ficker said Monday that while he worries about the economic impact the pandemic is having on businesses, he is most concerned about the effects of prolonged school closures. School buildings across the state have been closed since mid-March and classes have been conducted online.

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“Our office holders in Montgomery County ran on a platform of closing the achievement gap and having a good educational program in Montgomery County,” Ficker said. “… Checking in on a computer three times a week is not nearly as good as being there with your classmates and a good teacher seven hours a day, five days a week.”

Lovett, who was at the tense press conference when Elrich announced the first phase of reopening, dismissed efforts to contain the virus, calling them part of a “well-coordinated socialist government takeover.”

“We know their goal is to crash the economy, create civil war, enact martial law and remove [President Donald] Trump from office in November,” Lovett said. “… We’ve been deceived. We’ve been brainwashed. The truth has been hidden from us. We know now that COVID is a scam, and is used only for the purposes of government control.”

As of Sunday, there have been about 6.9 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide and more than 400,000 confirmed deaths.

The U.S. was closing in on 2 million confirmed cases and has had close to 110,000 confirmed deaths.

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The numbers in Montgomery County as of Monday were 12,818 cases and 620 deaths. State and county officials have emphasized safety practices such as face coverings and social distancing to help slow the spread of the disease, which is thought to spread through respiratory droplets.

Lovett encouraged people to do the opposite of directives from Elrich and health officials.

For example, if they say to wear a mask, people should take off their mask, Lovett said.

Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Mary Anderson, speaking on behalf of Chief Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said: “The advice we are giving and have been giving all along is based on trusted sources of information such as the CDC and the Maryland Department of Health.”

The Pandemic Comforters, a group of locals who support Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s approach to reopening, hold a rally on Monday in Rockville.

At the same time, a handful of people gathered at an adjacent plaza and prayed for Ficker and county officials. The group, called The Pandemic Comforters, sang worship songs and thanked Elrich for his work to keep residents safe.

“We were here to encourage Marc because he’s really being attacked because of the slow reopening of businesses,” Rocky Twyman said. “We just wanted to let him know that the community is with him. … Marc’s policies are really helping people.”

Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media

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