OCEAN CITY — With Maryland’s key COVID-19 metrics continuing to trend in the right direction, Governor Larry Hogan on Tuesday announced the state will enter stage three of his Roadmap to Recovery plan including the re-opening of movie theaters and live entertainment venues with restrictions in place.
Back in April, Hogan outlined his three-stage Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery designed to steadily and safely re-open the state’s businesses and jumpstart the economy. The first stage, implemented in May, implemented low-risk, quality of life improvements after months of the governor’s stay-at-home directive. It included permitting certain activities, allowed some small retail stores to open with strict guidelines and limited capacity and other small-step measures.
During the first phase of stage two, implemented in June, most businesses were allowed to re-open with outdoor seating, while the carryout and delivery model was still encouraged. The second phase of state two allowed restaurants and bars, for example, to open indoor areas at 50% capacity with strict social distancing guidelines and masking requirements, for example.
Maryland has remained at that stage in its recovery plan through much of the summer, but with several key metrics including the testing positivity rate, the number of hospitalizations, the number of patients in intensive care and the relatively new number of cases per 100,000 steadily declining, Hogan on Tuesday announced Maryland is ready to move into stage three of the recovery plan.
Stage three includes re-opening more businesses and activities were larger crowds of people tend to gather. It all increases the capacity at retail stores, bars and restaurants, for example, with the other public health and safety guidelines still in place. Hogan said stage three will be implemented at 5 p.m. on Friday.
“Movie theaters and live entertainment venues can safely open at 50% capacity, or up to 100 people indoor and 250 people outdoors,” he said. “All retail stores, as well as churches and places of worship, will be able to increase capacity from 50% to 75%.”
Hogan said individual jurisdiction can implement re-opening plans that are more restrictive then the state guidelines. He also said entering stage three is not a signal the COVID crisis is over.
“As we move into stage three of our recovery plan, the law empowers individual counties to make decisions that more restrictive regarding the timing of re-openings,” he said. “I want to remind people that moving into stage three does not mean this crisis is behind us. We must remain vigilant so we can keep Maryland open for business.”
Hogan referenced the state’s contact tracing efforts and pointed to an activity likely to be enjoyed by many Marylanders over Labor Day weekend.
“As we head into the holiday weekend, I want people to enjoy it, but I also want to remind them again of something we brought up about a month ago,” he said. “It just came up again with the findings of our contact tracing efforts. The number-one activity of those who have tested positive since the middle of July, at 41%, has been family gatherings.”
Hogan encouraged Marylanders to enjoy the holiday weekend, but advised them to be mindful of that statistic.
“You hear people say and you think it is dangerous to go to restaurants and bars, but the number one this has been family gatherings,” he said. “The next highest at 19% are house parties and outdoor events. So, while we want everybody to enjoy the holiday weekend, we want to remind them to be vigilant. We tend to feel safe when we’re around family and friends, and we tend to let our guard down.”
