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"This collaboration is just an example of Baltimore City at its best," Ctiy Schools CEO Sonja Santelises said. "This critical partnership builds upon City Schools' comprehensive plan to safely host additional in-person learning opportunities while combating the spread of COVID-19 in Baltimore City."

As Marylanders get ready to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, state health leaders want to use the day to spark a statewide conversation on COVID-19 vaccine concerns. Interim Chief Medical Officer for the University of Maryland Medical System, Dr. Michelle Gourdine, joined Fox 45 Morning News.

As the coronavirus vaccines roll out, frontline workers and group home residents are the first to receive it.

When 82-year-old Ruby Nee Blahut tested positive for COVID-19, her daughter got nervous. "I was scared for what the outcome was going to be. ... I lived on pins and needles," Cathy Miles said.

More than 250 organizations including the Maryland Hospital Association, major local insurers Kaiser Permanente and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, and Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine are throwing their support behind a new bill that aims to increase health equity in some Maryland communities.

LifeBridge Health is raising the minimum wage for its hospital workers to $15 an hour effective immediately, a move that will affect more than 1,100 employees.

MedStar Harbor Hospital believes they welcomed the first baby of 2021, not only in Maryland -- but possibly in the country.

Dr. Norvell Coots, the president and CEO of Holy Cross Health, called the general’s visit an honor. “The Holy Cross team has been working tirelessly throughout this pandemic to care for our community and one-another. Knowing that our feedback is important and will be used to support the national fight against COVID-19 is really a boost for our colleagues and our community,” Coots said.

“I’m very optimistic about the future, but I don’t want the community to have a false sense of security, either,” Carroll Hospital President Garrett Hoover said. “Masks, social gatherings in small groups, all of those public health announcements you’ve heard time and time again — please don’t let your guard down. Now is not the time.”

Elsa Aguilar Bustos works the 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. shift at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. She helps those suffering from COVID-19, along with others. Bustos, 66, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador, has been a medical interpreter for 16 years. Her job is vital in Baltimore where Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic - Latinos represent 10% of the state’s population, but 23% of COVID-19 cases.