Press Releases

Joint Statement from the Montgomery County Council and County Executive Marc Elrich on Public Health Guidelines and Reopening

For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 13, 2021

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 13, 2021—The Montgomery County Council and County Executive Marc Elrich issued the following statement on Gov. Hogan's May 12 decision to allow all indoor and outdoor venues and dining establishments to resume normal operations on May 15 and to lift the indoor face covering requirement when 70 percent of Marylanders receive at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Montgomery County leaders continue to follow the guidance of our public health team and take all the actions necessary to ensure that our residents stay as healthy as possible. Our actions have lowered the COVID-19 positivity rate in our community to 1.57 percent and our case rate to less than four per 100,000 residents. These rates are the fourth lowest in the nation for jurisdictions larger than 800,000 residents.

"The County's April 27 Board of Health regulation remains in effect and provides a phased approach to reopening based on the percentage of the population vaccinated. Once 50 percent of County residents are fully vaccinated, we will move to full reopening in line with the new state order. Community members are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving a second vaccination of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

"We are grateful for our more than 595,000 residents who have already received their first vaccinations and the more than 462,200 who are fully vaccinated. Thanks to these efforts, Montgomery County is on track to have 50 percent of the population with vaccinations complete before May 15. This means that by May 29, Montgomery County should resume normal operations across all indoor and outdoor businesses, restaurants, theatres, arts and entertainment venues and sports facilities.

"We currently follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on face covering requirements and are consistently working with our public health experts to determine what changes may be appropriate as vaccinations continue to increase.

"As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue to prioritize the guidance from our professional public health team and vaccinate our residents as quickly as possible and emerge as a stronger, healthier and more sustainable community."

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Release ID: 21-207
Media Contact: Sonya Healy 240-777-7926, Barry Hudson 240-300-7348