New COVID-19 Restrictions on Dining and Retail Effective Today at 5 p.m.

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, December 15, 2020

The Montgomery County Council approved County Executive Marc Elrich’s Executive Order 139-20AM2 today that suspends indoor dining, reduces indoor sports gatherings to no more than 10 people and reduces the maximum capacity of retail establishments. The new restrictions go into effect today at 5 p.m.

 The provisions of the new order include the following: 

• Restricts restaurant service to outdoor dining-carry-out, delivery and drive-through service may continue. No indoor dining is permitted. Outdoor dining is prohibited between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., per an existing Executive Order from Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.
  
  
• Indoor sports gatherings limited to a maximum of 10 people total.
  
  
• Maximum capacity for retail establishments reduced to one person per 200 square feet of retail space—not to exceed a maximum of 150 people.
  
  
• Large retail establishments wishing to accommodate more than 150 people after Wednesday, December 23 must request a Letter of Approval that includes a business’ plan for monitoring the number of people in the building at any given time and provide information on how social distancing will be ensured at the entrance, exit and check-out lines. All requests for a Letter of Approval must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 21. Requests can be completed on the COVID-19 website under the Executive Order portal.
  
  
• Religious institutions remain capped at 25 percent capacity indoors. A Letter of Approval is needed for outdoor services of more than 25 participants (previously a letter of approval was needed for outdoor services of more than 150 persons).

For the latest COVID-19 updates, visit the County’s COVID-19 website and follow Montgomery County on Facebook @MontgomeryCountyInfo and Twitter @MontgomeryCoMD.

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Release ID: 20-782
Media Contact: Mary Anderson 240-777-6507
Categories: COVID-19, Executive Office, Health