Baltimore City Closing Indoor And Outdoor Dining As COVID Spreads

BALTIMORE, MD — In an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Baltimore City is closing restaurants to indoor and outdoor dining, effective at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11. Carryout and delivery will still be available. Capacity limits are also being lowered in certain facilities, while indoor recreational establishments, theaters and outdoor entertainment venues are being closed.

"These restrictions today, while they may seem harsh, are being implemented to save lives and to reduce the stress on our medical system," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference Wednesday morning.

Because people can take their masks off while eating and drinking at restaurants and bars, these establishments "create a more at-risk opportunity," Scott said, since the virus is transmitted through respiratory droplets.

The new steps are "important and right," Dr. Thomas Inglesby of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said at the news conference with Scott and the city's health commissioner. "Last week COVID was the number one cause of death in America," Inglesby said.

These changes will take effect in Baltimore at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11:

• Gatherings:
  • Indoor gatherings at public and private facilities will be limited to no more than 10 persons.
  • Outdoor gatherings at public and private facilities will be limited to no more than 25 persons.
  • Sports gatherings at facilities controlled by Rec and Parks are prohibited.
• Religious facilities: Limited to 25 percent of maximum occupancy.
• Retail Establishments and Malls: Limited to 25 percent of maximum occupancy.
• Indoor Recreational Establishments: Must close at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11.
  • Includes bingo halls, bowling alleys, roller and ice skating rinks, social and fraternal clubs, cigar and hookah establishments and adult entertainment venues.
• Outdoor Recreational Establishments: Limited to 25 percent of maximum occupancy.
  • Includes golf courses and driving ranges, outdoor archery and shooting ranges, marinas and watercraft rental businesses, campgrounds, horse boarding and riding facilities, outdoor day camps and tour boats.
• Food service Establishments: Closed to indoor & outdoor dining.
  • Carry-out, delivery and drive-through service may continue.
• Fitness Centers: Limited to 25 percent of maximum occupancy.
• Casinos: Limited to 25 percent of maximum occupancy. "The casino is going from 50 percent capacity to 25 percent with no food or drink," Scott said. "All of this will be assessed over the next few weeks to see what we have to do moving forward."
• Personal Services: Limited to 25 percent of maximum occupancy.
  • Staff must wear face coverings at all times while indoors.
  • Services must be provided on an appointment-only basis, and a log must be kept of names of customers, staff providing services, and other residents who enter the shop.
• Libraries: May continue to operate with curbside pickup service.
• Museums, Zoos, Aquariums: Limited to 25 percent of maximum occupancy.
• Theaters and Outdoor Entertainment Venues:
  • All indoor and outdoor entertainment venues are prohibited.
  • Live performances and livestreamed performances from any venue is prohibited.

Read the executive order outlining the changes.

“Our interventions aim to decrease the number of contacts individuals have during their infectious period,” Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa said in a statement. “Targeting our interventions to the highest risk activities will provide the biggest reduction in high-risk contacts.”

Baltimore has 26,897 cases of the coronavirus confirmed as of Wednesday, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

"A lot of our contact tracing data really points to where individuals have been," Dzirasa said, noting there has been "exponential spread" of coronavirus in the city. "Bars and restaurants are a part of that list. Many individuals we know are also traveling to retail establishments."

Being indoors around people for longer periods of time was putting people at risk, particularly in bars and restaurants, where some are not wearing masks and are engaged in activities such as eating, drinking and smoking in proximity to others not in their household, Dzirasa said.

While part of the goal of the new restrictions is to keep hospitals from becoming overcrowded, the ultimate goal is to save the lives of Baltimore residents, Dzirasa said.

"To do nothing would be ... conceding defeat," Dzirasa said.

Officials say 366 people are hospitalized in Baltimore with the virus as of Wednesday and 585 people have died due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

City officials are urging residents not to travel and to avoid gathering with people outside their homes.

"I urge residents not to travel for Chanukah or Christmas," Dzirasa said.

Since the night before Thanksgiving, Maryland State Police has been conducting enforcement statewide to ensure people are following public health orders. City officials say they will also be keeping an eye out.

"We know that we've had incidences in places that we should not have had," Mayor Scott said of the coronavirus spreading. "We will do things with ... a focus on trying to educate people first before being punitive."

The leaders of Baltimore City as well as Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties will meet at 2 p.m. Wednesday for a virtual news conference to encourage Marylanders to follow guidelines in their jurisdictions and statewide.