Masks back on as cases rising
Council member requests emergency session to discuss
After saying earlier this week that he planned to wait for the County Council to make a decision on reinstating a mask requirement, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman on Thursday issued an executive order mandating face coverings in indoor public spaces beginning at noon Friday.
The mandate, which also includes the city of Annapolis, will expire at noon Jan. 7 unless the County Council votes to extend it. It requires all individuals over the age of 2 to wear face masks in retail shops, gyms, houses of worship and restaurants (except while dining), as well as other public locations. The mandate applies to everyone regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status and requires the mask cover the person’s mouth and nose.
“I had hoped we were done with government mandates in our response to COVID, but the current rate of spread and hospitalization is not sustainable for our hospitals, our schools, our public safety agencies or our businesses,” Pittman said in a statement. “Masks slow the spread, and it’s time to put them back on.”
Pittman said he has heard from four of the seven County Council members who said they will support the mandate. However, an emergency ordinance takes five votes to pass.
The council next meets Monday, but the mandate is not on the agenda for that meeting at this time.
Allison Pickard, D-Glen Burnie, notified The Capital on Thursday afternoon that she had requested an emergency legislative session for Jan. 7 so the council can evaluate the situation and decide whether to extend the order.
“I believe mandating masks in the community is a needed layer of protection to limit the spread of COVID. We are all interdependent on each other and must do
all we can to keep our hospitals functioning, our schools open, our first responder agencies staffed and businesses operating safely,” Pickard said.
“While we are definitely in a better place to handle this surge than we were in March of 2020 due to vaccinations and boosters, we still need to pull together to get through this at this time. I believe the mask mandate will be impactful while only being needed short term.”
The county’s two hospitals, University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical
Center and Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, reported a combined record 191 COVID-19 hospitalizations Wednesday.
“Our hospitals are implementing crisis standards of care because they’re taking care of the highest number of COVID patients since the pandemic began,” Anne Arundel County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman said in a statement. “Masks are critical in slowing the spread of [the] omicron [variant].”
Also on Wednesday, the county’s case rate hit 109 positive cases per 100,000 residents per day, over five times the 20 cases per 100,000 per day average at the beginning
of the month. And 21% of people tested for
COVID-19 came back positive on Wednesday, the highest rate since April 2020, the county said.
Pittman’s announcement comes after Howard County resumed its indoor mask mandate Sunday, and a similar requirement in Baltimore County began Wednesday. Prince George’s and Montgomery counties and Baltimore City had already reinstituted their indoor mask mandates as well.
Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley voiced his support for the mandate briefly after it was announced Thursday.
“I am happy to support the mandate because this is the way we can come together as a community to help our health care and public safety workers,” Buckley said.