As coronavirus surges, Baltimore Mayor Jack Young has pleaded with residents to stop shooting one another as hospital beds must be saved to treat patients with the deadly virus. Scores of people were shot Tuesday night in the Madison Park as coronavirus spreads in the city.
As of Sunday, Baltimore had 24 coronavirus cases while Maryland authorities recorded 244 across the state.
“I want to reiterate how completely unacceptable the level of violence is that we have seen recently,” Young was quoted by CBS Baltimore. “We will not stand for mass shootings and an increase in crime.”
“For those of you who want to continue to shoot and kill people of this city, we’re not going to tolerate it,” Young said this week. “We’re going to come after you and we’re going to get you.”
He continued: “We cannot clog up our hospitals and their beds with people that are being shot senselessly because we’re going to need those beds for people infected with the coronavirus. And it could be your mother, your grandmother or one of your relatives.”
Baltimore officials have been trying hard to respond to coronavirus and recent violent crimes, including the gun violence on Tuesday night that injured seven people.
Even though the police department announced that it is increasing staffing in the areas where crime has increased, it wants to ensure that it doesn’t increase the jail population due to fears that an outbreak could spread among staff and inmates.
Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore’s State Attorney, has also ordered her staff to drop all imminent criminal charges against anyone apprehended for drug possession, attempted distribution, prostitution, trespassing, minor traffic offenses, open container, and urinating in public.
She wrote a letter to the Governor of Baltimore, Larry Hogan to further enforce some guidelines to ensure safety for workers and inmates alike.
Coronavirus, officially known as COVID_19, has killed more than 7,000 people and affected over 200,000 worldwide since it emerged last December.
People are currently being advised to protect against the spread of the virus with actions such as washing their hands and covering their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
Countries around the world have also canceled flights while tightening controls at borders to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
