Finally – good news for restaurants and bars in Maryland. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan lifted capacity restrictions effective Friday. But patrons won’t be able to crowd around the bar. Masking, physical distancing, and other safety protocols will remain in place.
Bottom line: Young adults at bars and restaurants during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend will still be expected to be seated and distance. “We are going to make sure that people follow the rules-which is still seated, distanced, dining,” Hogan said. “You can’t be standing jammed into a bar. That’s still against the regulations. We are going to ask all the businesses to make sure that people comply. And the public health orders are still in effect. And the health department and the local jurisdictions will still be able to enforce those regulations.”
Still, that’s a lot better than being allowed to operate at only 25% or 50% of capacity.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said his order will also apply to retail businesses, religious facilities, fitness centers, casinos, personal services, and indoor recreational establishments.
Maryland’s statewide masking order remains in full force and effect. This requires the wearing of masks or face coverings at any public indoor facility, including retail establishments, fitness centers, grocery stores, pharmacies, personal service establishments, in the public spaces of all public and private businesses across the state, and when using public transportation. Masks are still required in all outdoor public areas whenever it is not possible to maintain physical distancing.
There were 388,666 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Maryland as of Tuesday morning, according to the Department of Health, and 7,806 people in Maryland have died from the virus. The state’s positivity rate is at 3.4%, which is within CDC recommended guidelines for containment. Maryland has conducted more than 8.1 million COVID-19 tests.
Maryland’s health care providers have administered 1,616,567 doses of the coronavirus vaccine. That includes 1,043,950 (17.268%) first doses and 572,617 (9.472%) second doses.