What MD's Reopening Plan Means For Montgomery County

ROCKVILLE, MD — After months of tracking coronavirus trends and consulting with his recovery team, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has decided to lift the state's stay-at-home order. But that doesn't mean Montgomery County will follow suit.

Starting Friday at 5 p.m., retail businesses in Maryland can reopen at 50 percent capacity with safety precautions, manufacturing can resume normal operations, religious organizations can hold services, and some personal services (i.e., barbershops and hair salons) can reopen at 50 percent capacity and by appointment only.

Wednesday nightMontgomery County leaders said in a news release that they will join other large jurisdictions in Maryland in remaining on a stay-at-home status until local COVID-19 data says it is safe to move toward reopening. County Executive Marc Elrich said Montgomery County has yet to show a 14-day downward trend in the number of coronavirus cases.

Also, the county has had nearly 400 COVID-19 related deaths. "These numbers do not allow our area to move forward at this point in a way that Western Maryland or the Eastern Shore might be able to do," county officials said in the news release.

Without a consistent drop in infection rates, Elrich (D) said he wasn't ready to lift coronavirus restrictions in the county.

"There is no value in opening prematurely if it tosses us right back into this crisis again," Elrich said at a news briefing Wednesday. "I think what we've got to keep emphasizing to people is that you don't know who is infected. And so, just to open up the way we were before, until we have much better knowledge about the spread of the COVID virus, and we've been able to identify the people who have it, would be putting everyone at risk."

Maryland has seen a 14-day trend of plateauing and declining numbers, the Republican governor said Wednesday at a news conference. "The number of coronavirus hospitalizations is down from two weeks ago," with intensive care unit patients plateauing for "a significant period of time" and the rate of new deaths slowing from the virus.

As the "state cautiously moves forward," Hogan said he understood that not all areas were in the same situation, noting four of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions account for more than 70 percent of the state's total cases.

"Prince George's and Montgomery counties have the highest number of cases, and they have made it clear that they are not yet ready to move into stage one," Hogan said.

At 386, Montgomery County has the highest number of deaths in Maryland. It also has the second highest number of confirmed cases, after Prince George's County, which has 10,072.

Leaders governing the hardest-hit jurisdictions in the state don't have to reopen on Friday, according to Hogan.

Echoing that sentiment, Elrich said people shouldn't focus too much on a reopening date, since caseloads could still spike.

"You can't set a date and have that date be the most important thing. The most important thing is what happens to the caseloads ... health needs to rule this decision," he said. "We're going to continue to emphasize the importance of physical distancing between people, wearing face coverings, and sheltering in place."