3-30-20 Executive Order Directs Marylanders to Stay Home; Hotels May Remain Open as Essential Business

The information below was provided by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.   It is our interpretation that hotels are still considered essential.  As such your employees are permitted to report to work. This Travel Letter for Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers may be adapted for your employees to carry with them as they are traveling to/from your hotel.
 
Amy Rohrer
President & CEO
Maryland Hotel Lodging Association
 
From the Maryland Chamber of Commerce:
March 30, 2020
 
Earlier this morning, at a press conference in response to the escalating coronavirus pandemic, Governor Hogan announced that he had signed an executive order directing all Marylanders to stay at home, effective 8 pm this evening. No Maryland resident should leave their home except for an urgent reason—to obtain food, medicine or medical attention, or to travel to an essential job.
 
Only essential businesses are allowed to remain open. Any person who willfully defies the stay-at-home order will be charged with a misdemeanor. “This is a deadly public health crisis,” Hogan said. “We are no longer asking or suggesting that Marylanders stay home — we are directing them to do so.”
 
Maryland has surpassed 1,400 cases of COVID-19 cases in the state—and 51 people in D.C., Maryland and Virginia have died from coronavirus, according to the governor.
 
The governor praised the recently passed CARES Act for providing $2.3 billion in federal assistance directly to the state of Maryland, including much-needed support for small businesses and extended benefits for the unemployed.
 
A week ago, the governor announced a $175 million comprehensive business relief program that brought together resources from the MD Department of Commerce and the MD Department of Labor to help small businesses.
 
He also mentioned the COVID-19 Layoff Aversion Fund, which provides an additional $7 million to assist small businesses in the retainment of their employees during this time. The MD Department of Labor has already received more than 1,500 applications for this program. Today, the governor authorized an additional $2 million for this fund, bringing it up to $9 million.
 
$8.8 million has already been provided to over 400 small business across the state, which has helped more than 8,000 employees keep their jobs. For more information on business relief measures, please visit the Business Express website.

• To learn more and to view the executive order, please see:
• https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/03/30/coronavirus-latest-gov-larry-hogan-orders-stay-at-home-directive-in-maryland/
• Interpretive-Guidance: COVID19-07

 
Please stay safe.
 
Sincerely,
Christine Ross
President and CEO
Maryland Chamber of Commerce