Around Maryland

Johns Hopkins University is reinstating temporary COVID-19 mitigation measures after almost 100 undergraduates tested positive for the virus within the last six days. Kevin Shollenberger, Hopkins’ vice provost for student health and well-being, announced the university is responding to the spike in cases by testing all undergraduate students twice per week from now until April 22. Testing may be extended following evaluation. Masking will be temporarily required in common areas in residence and dining halls, adding to the already existing mask mandate in Hopkins’ classrooms.

Students who are isolated from school due to testing positive for COVID-19 will no longer receive live virtual instruction while away from school, Superintendent George Arlotto told the Board of Education on Wednesday. He said a low number of cases among students and Anne Arundel County’s low community spread prompted him to make the change, effective April 19. Students will be on spring break April 11-18, and when they return on the 19th, the system will no longer offer “direct synchronous education for isolated students,” Arlotto said.

Applications will open next month for Baltimore’s guaranteed income pilot program. Mayor Brandon Scott announced the initiative in February 2022, joining a group of mayors across the country to create the program. The group, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, advocates for cities to implement direct, recurring cash payments to citizens in a bid to create momentum for a federal guaranteed income program.

There weren’t any coronavirus patients hospitalized in Frederick County on Monday, a milestone the community hasn’t hit since the summer. The last time the Frederick County Health Department reported zero hospitalizations from the virus was July 10. One person was hospitalized because of the virus on Wednesday, according to Frederick Health data.

Frederick County will likely have far fewer polling locations for the July 19 primary and November general elections than in past elections, based on a preliminary plan the county Board of Elections approved Wednesday. The Board of Elections cannot finalize its plan until legal challenges to a proposed legislative redistricting map from the state legislature are resolved, which election officials hope will be by the end of next week.

Two Anne Arundel County Police officers recounted Wednesday the nighttime water rescue of four people from a van that had crashed into a Severn drainage pond on Friday. While video of the incident showed the officers’ role in the rescue, they credited bystanders for helping to ensure the night ended with a positive result.

Sidewalk construction along Johnsville Road in Eldersburg is set to begin this month in an effort to safely connect pedestrians from area schools to residential neighborhoods and Route 32. Most of the design and construction costs — 80% — will be funded by the Safe Routes to School program administered by the Maryland Department of Transportation. The county is responsible for the remaining 20%. As a result, last week, Carroll County commissioners approved a transfer of $55,000 from unallocated public works funds to the project.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on Wednesday announced a partnership between the city and rideshare service Lyft to get new employees to and from work. The “Let’s Ride to Work” partnership will help residents get their first paycheck with four weeks of free rides to and from their new job, the Mayor’s Office said. The $267,000 initiative is part of the city’s COVID-19 employment recovery strategy.