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Following spike in hospitalizations, Maryland provides surge of money to overburdened hospitals

By John Domen

The flu and COVID season has been a tough one for Marylanders. State leaders say about 4,000 residents have been hospitalized with the flu this year, another 1,000 with RSV and hundreds more with COVID.

It’s put a strain on Maryland’s hospitals and led Gov. Wes Moore to announce Thursday the state will provide $164 million to hospitals around the state to help those facilities care for the influx in patients.

“This funding will make sure that hospitals have support to be able to cover the costs of additional staff,” Moore said. “It will make sure that hospitals have the ability to keep beds open and available.”

Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani said the level of respiratory illnesses remains high after a recent spike in hospitalizations.

“We are still high,” Seshamani said during an event at University of Maryland Capital Region Health in Largo. “Even when a spike starts to come down, there can be another spike, because people start to relax and say, ‘OK, we’re through that hump’ and maybe hand washing, other things kind of fall back a little bit.”

Nat Richardson, the president and CEO of the University of Maryland hospital in Largo, said his organization plans and budgets for increased needs at this time of year brought on by illnesses such as the flu. However, this year has been overwhelming.

“When you think about a 30% surge in hospitals — that surge, we can’t just go in a closet and pick up a bunch of team members and say, ‘Come help with the surge,’” Richardson said. “We’re typically reaching out to agencies … to bring in additional resources. And those are dollars that we plan for, for the most part, but not at a 30% surge.”

State leaders also kept hammering home the point that vaccines of all kinds, but especially flu and COVID shots, are safe and effective. Officials have said even if the vaccines don’t stop someone from getting sick, they reduce the impact the virus will have on you.

“The confusion stops here,” Seshamani said. “It is worth it. Vaccines are one of the most powerful tools in our toolbox to keep ourselves healthy. They continue to be the most effective way to protect ourselves and our families against severe illness, and that includes the strains of flu that are circulating now.”

Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

By The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state's lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms. “We are making claims based only on the tools that Meta has developed because its own research shows they encourage addiction to the platform in a variety of ways,” said State Solicitor David Kravitz, adding that the state's claim has nothing to do the company's algorithms or failure to moderate content. Meta said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.” Its attorney, Mark Mosier, argued in court that the lawsuit “would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions” and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment.
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