Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has ordered residents to shelter in place, as deaths in the state tripled over the weekend.
The state has exceeded 1,400 confirmed coronavirus cases, including a death toll that jumped to 15 since Friday.
"We are no longer asking or suggesting that Marylanders stay home. We are directing them to do so," Hogan said during a news conference in the state capital of Annapolis.
The order comes after a weekend where a man in Charles County, Maryland threw a 60-person bonfire party in defiance of an order from the governor prohibiting public gatherings of more than 10 people.
Last week, 67 residents of a nursing home in Carrol County, Maryland tested positive for coronavirus, and 27 staff members experienced symptoms.
“Despite all of those actions and our repeated warnings for more than three weeks and in spite of the rapid escalation of this crisis across the world, the nation and our state, some people are still choosing to ignore those executive orders and directives” Hogan said.
Maryland is a part of the Washington, D.C. metro area, where, in just a week, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases quadrupled.
In all, 29 states currently have stay at home orders in place, not including Maryland's neighbor Virginia or the District of Columbia.
“Those individuals are endangering themselves and their fellow citizens. Anyone engaged in this type of reckless behavior is in violation of state law and is putting family, their friends and their fellow Marylanders at risk.”
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