UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced that indoor dining will be permitted at a 25% capacity starting Friday after recent data shows a decline in cases in the county.
On Jan. 14, Alsobrooks moved to prohibit indoor dining because the county's positivity rate had stayed above 10% for nearly two weeks and the daily case rate has stayed at a “critical level” since Nov. 9.
Now, recent data released for the week of Jan. 19 shows that the county is seeing a downward trend in cases. According to health officials, as of Monday, the county's overall positivity rate is below 10% and stands at 9.2%. They also report that the infection rate is below 1% and is currently at 0.93%
At this time, overall hospitalizations for COVID-19 are maintaining a 47% rate and hospitals are doing well, county health officials said at a news conference on Monday.
Outdoor dining will continue to be limited to 50% capacity, and restaurants may continue to offer takeout meals and curbside service.
Alsobrooks said health officials will continue to monitor data for the weeks ahead. In the meantime, officials are asking residents and restaurant owners to adhere to CDC guidelines to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM) filed a motion in December to overturn the ban on indoor dining.
"Gov. Hogan has indicated there is no data or evidence that warrants closing of indoor dining," Marshall Weston Jr., president of the Restaurant Association of Maryland, said. "If indeed restaurants were a source of COVID we would have seen significant increases while restaurants were open at 75% capacity, yet that did not happen."
