(Wednesday, April 28, 2021) – Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is taking  more steps toward easing  COVID restrictions across the state.  He announced today that he’s repealing the state’s outdoor mask mandate and dropping social distancing and capacity requirements for outdoor dinning and outdoor stand-up bar service.  Those new rollback guidelines will take effect Saturday, May 1st.

Citing the latest guidance issued Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hogan said he’s repealing the state’s outdoor masking mandate with the exception of large venues like sporting events or concerts.

Hogan says Maryland has surpassed administering more than 4.5 million COVID shots with 60 percent of Marylanders 18 and older vaccinated.  “We expect to be able to take additional actions in the weeks ahead and to return to a sense of normalcy,” said Hogan.

It’s not yet clear how many local governments in the state will actually follow Hogan’s lead.