Mayor Young, Health Commissioner Waiting Until Friday To Announce Next Phase Of Baltimore City's Reopening
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore Mayor Jack Young said city officials will not announce the next steps of reopening the city until Friday, June 19.
"After consulting with Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa and our public health experts, we have decided to wait until Friday, June 19, 2020, to make an announcement about the next phase of Baltimore City's reopening," the mayor said Wednesday morning.
He said while the data continues to trend in the right direction, the testing results from this week will help show the extent of transmission from Memorial Day and protests earlier in June.
"Once Dr. Dzirasa and her team have an opportunity to review this data, we will be able to make a better-informed decision about the next steps of our reopening," Mayor Young said.
While the majority of the state has followed Gov. Larry Hogan's reopening guidelines and are well into Phase 2 with most non-essential businesses allowed to reopen, Baltimore City has remained hesitant to reopen to the same extent.
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Businesses including manufacturing, construction, large and small retail shops, specialty vendors, wholesalers and warehouses are allowed open according to Gov. Hogan's guidelines, as well as personal services including nail and tanning salons, massage therapy and tattoo parlors are allowed to reopen with 50 percent capacity.
Gov. Larry Hogan's announcement last week cleared the way for indoor dining to return at 50 percent capacity over the weekend. Social distancing measures will be required there and at malls, arcades, indoor fitness centers and casinos when that group opens this weekend.
Outdoor amusement parks and rides, mini-golf and go-kart tracks were also able to reopen. Outdoor pools were able to increase their capacities to 50 percent.
Reopening Maryland: What's Open, What's Closed County-By-County
Baltimore fully moved into Phase 1 of reopening on Monday.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
