County extends mask mandate

Health department overrules council after Friday meeting

In an emergency virtual meeting Friday morning, the Anne Arundel County Council voted not to give County Executive Steuart Pittman the ability to extend the seven-day mask mandate that expired at noon Friday and not to extend Pittman’s state of emergency through Jan. 31, despite the rapid rise of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the county and nationwide.

Several hours later, Anne Arundel County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman overrode the council’s decision with a public safety order under state law that will extend the mask mandate until Jan. 31. Face coverings are once again required for those older than 2 in indoor public areas and outdoor public settings where social distancing isn’t possible.

“When the collective impact of individual decisions ripples out, we have to take collective action,” Kalyanaraman said in a statement. “That’s why a time-limited mask requirement is essential in decreasing the crushing burden we are placing on our hospitals.”

Pittman backed Kalyanaraman’s decision, saying the situation is too dire not to take all possible action.

“The health officer had to step in. It’s his responsibility to slow the spread of communicable diseases,” Pittman said Friday. “I was shocked that three council members would vote to remove a mask mandate at the end of a week when 21 Anne Arundel County residents died of COVID.”

Pittman said Kalyanaraman is able to extend this order if need be but wishes the administration didn’t have to take this measure and said he thinks the Republicans on the council were overly concerned with their political outcomes from the decision.

“I believe that they were

putting their political concerns ahead of the health of the residents of Anne Arundel County and that’s wrong,” he said.

The County Council’s vote was along party lines, with the four Democrats in favor and three Republicans opposed. However, since the vote required a super majority, it failed.

The mandate would have allowed the county executive to continue the indoor mask mandate for another six weeks but didn’t specify a certain kind of mask, as it would be too difficult to enforce and ensure everyone had the highest quality of masks.

“I tried to create this bill in a way I believed would get bipartisan support,” said council member Lisa Brannigan Rodvien, D-Annapolis, who sponsored the bill.

All three Republicans on the council asked Kalyanaraman about various county COVID-19 data, including vaccination rates, testing rates and hospitalizations.

“I’m hesitant because it sounds like we’re going to be forever in this,” said Jessica Haire, R-Edgewater.

“It’s not about the masks. It’s about the mandate,” said Amanda Fiedler, R-Arnold, of her vote in opposition.

The Democrats argued that local and national doctors suggest masking and area hospitals have asked for a mask mandate.

“When our hospitals say they need our help, shame on us for not listening,” said Sarah Lacey, D-Jessup.

Andrew Pruski, D-Gambrills, added that the only option the county has with the newness of the virus and lack of long-term data is to go with the experts and do what they say works to help prevent the spread of disease.

“We have to react the way the bell curve changes,” Pruski said.

All three Democrats voiced their disappointment in their colleagues in voting no and urged residents to wear masks anyway.

“We do not seem to have the leadership to be responsible,” said Allison Pickard, D-Glen Burnie.

At a typical council meeting, there are usually about a dozen speakers from the public providing testimony on a full roster of bills. For the two pieces of legislation Friday morning, there were around 1,700 digital, written testimonials and 120 people tuned into the virtual meeting to speak live.

On the mask bill, nine held no position, 352 were opposed and 1,130 were in support via written testimonials, and on the state of emergency bill, 91 people were opposed while 179 were in support.

Much of the testimony was about masking and whether it was good for young kids and students. Some in favor of passing the bill said it would help protect their young kids who are not able to be vaccinated yet, as well as help control the spread enough to keep students in schools in person. Some opposed said the younger students often don’t wear the masks properly, rendering them useless. Others opposed said a mask mandate constitutes government overreach.

The second bill would have extended the state of emergency past the original seven days that ended Friday until Jan. 31. The state of emergency has allowed Pittman to extend the mask mandate for the duration of the order.

This comes as the county continues to see cases rise at an increased rate.

As of Friday, the county had 167.5 positive cases out of 100,000 people per day, and that number is only PCR tests and those who report their positive tests to the county.

There are currently 236 residents hospitalized with the disease in the county, the majority of whom are unvaccinated. And the state’s positivity rate is 30%, a notable jump from the start of the week when it was around 25%, according to the Anne Arundel County Health Department.