MoCo Officials: Hogan Needs To Impose Stronger COVID-19 Measures

ROCKVILLE, MD — Officials in Montgomery County want Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to impose stronger pandemic-related restrictions statewide as COVID-19 infections continue to surge in the region and elsewhere in the country.

During a COVID-19 media briefing on Thursday, County Executive Marc Elrich said he was "disappointed" that Hogan did not implement stricter measures to stem the spread of the virus, which has already killed more than 4,000 Marylanders.

The Republican governor on Tuesday issued an executive order for restaurants and bars to shrink their capacity from 75 to 50 percent. The Maryland Department of Health also issued an advisory "strongly discouraging" indoor gatherings of more than 25 people.

"It left me a little bit disappointed," Elrich said. "When he talks about strongly recommending — I mean, I felt like he needed to just bite the bullet and say, 'not that you should do this, but you must do this.'

"I think we're at a 'must' point. If the numbers don't change with 'should,' he's going to be back in two weeks doing 'must' anyway."

Dr. Travis Gayles, the county's top health official, said health officers across Maryland have given the governor recommendations for pandemic-related mandates — such as capacity limits and enforcement penalties.

The set of recommendations, according to Gayles, creates a standardized approach for tackling the pandemic, while giving local jurisdictions the flexibility to issue more restrictive measures in their respective communities.

"The challenge is each of the local jurisdictions has to do this dance of working together or thinking about, 'Well, what are you going to do? What are we going to do?' in terms of what are the community transmission levels that are not safe to keep your businesses open, not safe to keep your schools open, not safe for sports to happen," Gayles said. "And in the absence of statewide guidance in those spaces, it creates a space where each jurisdiction is working to try to figure out that information on its own."

Hogan has given all 24 jurisdictions in the state discretion in deciding when and how to reopen their respective economies. And while Gayles said he appreciates that the state has allowed local health officers to tailor their COVID-19 restrictions, he believes a more standardized approach for "spaces that are gray areas ... would have been beneficial."

On the day of the briefing, Montgomery County had 28,146 COVID-19 and 860 deaths.

The county's rate of cases per 100,000 was 18.6. Ten is the threshold at which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers a region to be at high risk for coronavirus transmission.

All but four jurisdictions — Worcester, Talbot, Kent, and Caroline counties — had a case rate above 10, according to state data.

On Tuesday, Elrich issued an amended executive order in an effort to curb the spread of infection.

Under his order, public gatherings are limited to 25 people or less, indoor dining at restaurants are capped at 25 percent, and food service establishments are required to keep a daily record of all dining patrons for contact tracing purposes.

Museums, art galleries, bowling alleys, and retail shops are also required to reduce their capacity to 25 percent or 25 people, whichever is lower.