EASTON — The tents installed outside UM Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown and the emergency departments at UM Shore Medical Centers at Chestertown, Dorchester and Easton may soon be in use for patient assessment, Dr. Walter Atha, regional director, Emergency Medicine for UM Shore Regional Health announced on Thursday.

According to Dr. Atha, depending on patient volumes at each of the four locations, patients presenting for emergency care may be directed to the tents, where they will be evaluated by UM Shore Medical Group providers.

“Care provided in the tents does not include testing for COVID-19, as UM SRH is not designated as an outpatient testing site,” says Dr. Atha. “Our intended purpose for these tents is to reduce the possibility of exposure to COVID-19 among patients and their attending family members as well as our staff.”

Dr. Atha further recommends that anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms should first contact his or her primary care provider; if the provider indicates that immediate evaluation is needed, go to the nearest emergency department. “Staying home, practicing social distancing, wearing a mask if you must go out, and washing your hands frequently remain the best strategies for maintaining your own health and that of your loved ones, and for reducing community spread,” he says.

For more information about UM Shore Regional Health’s response to COVID-19, visit umms.org/shore/coronavirus.

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Information provided by the Maryland Department of Health at 10 a.m. Thursday showed 6,185 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, with an increase of 656 over the previous 24 hours. Fourteen patients had died, bringing Maryland's death toll in the pandemic to 138.

There were 1,348 hospitalizations, with an increase of 138 over the 24 hours. The number of negative test results was 35,344, an increase of 2,411, and 376 persons were released from isolation, an increase of 11.