Montgomery County is easing the rules for when the mask mandate can be reinstated
The Montgomery County Council, which serves as the health department, voted unanimously Tuesday to ease coronavirus measurements that dictate when mesh mandates in Maryland County may take effect again.
The Montgomery County Council, which serves as the health department, voted unanimously Tuesday to ease coronavirus measurements that dictate when mesh mandates in Maryland County may take effect again.
The county will now only reintroduce a public indoor mask mandate if it sees seven consecutive days of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls “significant” transmission.
Previously, the mask mandate was automatically triggered as soon as the county passed the significant transmission threshold.
This led to widespread confusion as the county lifted its indoor mask mandate last Thursday in the wake of improving the COVID-19 case numbers – only to have the county fall back into significant transmission status the next day.
This again meant that the county would have had to reintroduce the mask mandate this Wednesday – because it still had to give four days notice of the move – unless the council acted to change the emergency health regulations, which is what it did today.
The council also unanimously approved an amendment that would completely remove indoor mesh mandates when 85% of the total population of the county is fully vaccinated.
The mandate discussed by the council only applies to indoor public spaces – not to schools that fall under the county’s education council.
This is a development story and will be updated.
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