Baltimore, Montgomery County, Prince George's Bring Back Mask Mandates

Source: MarylandReporter.com
Several of the state’s biggest jurisdictions reinstated mask mandates today, hoping to curb the rapidly increasing spread of the Delta variant, Johanna Alonso reports for The Daily Record. Baltimore’s mandate goes into effect at 9 a.m. on Aug. 9 and Montgomery County’s goes into effect at midnight the morning of Aug. 7. 

• Mayor Brandon Scott announced Thursday he will reinstate a Baltimore indoor mask mandate that will be regardless of vaccination status, as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus rips through the city and country, Emily Sullivan reports for WYPR.
• In some parts of the city, as many as 70% of residents remain unvaccinated, Timothy Dashiell and Fern Shen report for Baltimore Brew, with officials bemoaning the persistence of misinformation about the vaccine and the virus. In Baltimore, new cases increased more than 374% compared to four weeks ago and positivity, which now stands at 1.7%, has seen a similar rise over the past month.
• Officials in Montgomery County voted unanimously Thursday to reinstate a mask mandate requiring people in the county to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces, Jack Moore reports for WTOP. The mandate applies regardless of whether they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
• The Montgomery County mandate would end after seven straight days of fewer than 75 cases per day, or an average of that during the same period, Steve Bohnel reports for Bethesda Beat. Residents weighing in on the mask policy had mixed feelings, with some saying it will protect the unvaccinated and others saying Moco’s vaccination rate is high at more than 70% and the policy isn’t needed.
• Prince George’s County will reinstate its indoor mask mandate on Sunday at 5 p.m. as COVID-19 cases climb, Anaya Truss-Williams reports for The Diamondback, the student newspaper at University of Maryland.