The County Council, sitting as the Board of Health, this week will consider a regulation that would mandate mask wearing indoors under certain circumstances, as the delta variant of the coronavirus has caused an increase in the number of reported infected people.
The regulation would require masks in public indoor areas in the county is deemed an area of “substantial transmission” of the virus.
Under the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, “substantial” would mean “50 to 99.99 total new cases per 100,000 persons in the past 7 days or 8 to 9.99 percent test positivity during the past 7 days,” according to a press release.
If that should happen, the release adds, “the Health Officer would be required to notify the Council, the County Executive and the public that the indoor mask mandate has been triggered.”
The council intends to introduce the regulation, requested by County Executive Marc Elrich, hold a public hearing and vote on the issue at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5.
The deadline to sign up to testify is Thursday, Aug. 5 at 9 a.m. Testimony also can be submitted in written, audio or video format online.
“File:3D medical animation coronavirus structure.jpg” by https://www.scientificanimations.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
🆕Council meets on Aug. 5 at 2 p.m. to introduce, hold a public hearing & vote on a Board of Health regulation to reinstate indoor masking if Montgomery County becomes an area of substantial #COVID19 transmission: https://t.co/vian15ovNy .
➡️Staff report: https://t.co/EkrdXd03bg pic.twitter.com/tbsk75CPSr— Montgomery Council (@MoCoCouncilMD) August 2, 2021