Indoor Dining Ban May Be Lifted Soon In Montgomery County

ROCKVILLE, MD — People may soon be able to eat inside restaurants in Montgomery County.

A draft executive order — which was sent to the County Council for approval on Tuesday — would reopen indoor dining at 25 percent capacity and impose a one-hour time limit on customers. It would also require restaurants to keep a daily log of customers' contact tracing information for at least 30 days.

Alcohol sales would be suspended after 10 p.m.

If the order is approved by the County Council, the changes will go into effect at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9. It would make Montgomery County the last jurisdiction in the state to resume indoor dining amid a decline in coronavirus cases.

On Dec. 15, the county suspended all indoor dining, prompting a lawsuit by the Restaurant Association of Maryland. The group sought a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order in circuit court against the jurisdiction. But a judge upheld the county's ban on indoor dining.

A second hearing might happen in February.