Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Wednesday that he is easing some COVID-related restrictions beginning Thursday, and that the state may begin the first official phase of reopening starting next week.
Effective tomorrow, elective medical procedures will be allowed to resume, and the list of permitted outdoor activities will expand to include, among other things, golfing, tennis, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, and boating.
State-run beaches and playgrounds will also be reopened tomorrow. Municipalities can do the same “at their discretion,” according to a press release from Hogan’s office.
Assuming the state continues to see declining overall hospitalization and intensive care unit numbers into next week, the state “will be ready to lift the stay-at-home order and to begin stage one of our recover plan,” which would entail opening “certain types of businesses and lower-risk community, religious and quality-of-life activities.”
