Hogan Provides More Details About Md.'s Re-Open Plan
Dear WANADA Members,
Yesterday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced that Maryland has met the required progress on its
four stated benchmarks for recovery, and that as a result, the state will shift to a "safer at home" order beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday. That said, Hogan added that individual counties will have the authority to delay the implementation of what's being called the "stage one" reopening, and least three will do so.
In addition, Baltimore City Mayor
Jack Young said Tuesday that his city was also not yet ready to re-open, and the leaders of Frederick,
Anne Arundel, and Baltimore counties also
have said they are currently debating how to proceed at the end of the week. We will provide you with more details on their opening plans when we have more information.
As outlined in the state's
Roadmap to Recovery, the shift to "phase one" will allow certain businesses and civic institutions to re-open at a lower capacity. Manufacturing will be able to resume, while adhering to
the state's social distancing guidelines. Houses of worship will be able to re-open at 50 percent of their maximum occupancy. Similarly, many non-essential retail businesses will be able to open with the same parameters,
and at this link you can find a non-exhaustive list of the previously-closed retail outlets that may now open.
We anticipate that the capacity loosening will also apply to auto dealerships and service stations once it goes into effect.
Maryland dealerships and auto repair facilities are currently allowed to remain open, under
state legal guidance
issued back in March. The state has also issued an order
requiring businesses
to provide their employees with masks and to require that they wear them in areas open to the public; almost every Maryland county in our region has also issued more restrictive safety regulations of their own. The governor's executive order issued Wednesday reinforces the state's requirements.
We continue to encourage you to adhere stringently to all state and local guidelines around workplace safety and social distancing. It is very important that you continue documenting your efforts to comply with all of the state and local ordinances that have been imposed thus far; as far as we know, state and local compliance enforcement will continue, even under the stage one guidelines, and will remain in effect for some time.
Please let me or Joe Koch (
jk@wanada.org) know if you have any questions about this update. This process continues to be a fluid one, and the different restrictions for different jurisdictions makes this difficult situation even more challenging. When in doubt, please feel free to contact us at any time, and to always err on the side of safety and caution for the sake of your employees and customers.
