BETHESDA, Md. — Montgomery County mask mandate will likely return just days after it was lifted.
The Council, acting as the health board, is expected to meet Tuesday afternoon to amend the health regulation and reinstate the mask mandate. That includes seven days of “substantial transmission” plus a four-day grace period.
Question:
Will Montgomery County's mask mandate return?
Our Sources:
- Montgomery County COVID data dashboard
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Montgomery County Council President Tom Hucker
- Montgomery County Acting Health Officer, Dr. James Bridgers.
What We Learned:
“The coronavirus is such an enigma that we try to plan and make those projections but at any given point it may change,” said Dr. Bridgers.
According to Bridgers, the mask mandate was removed Thursday, Oct. 28, after the county had seven consecutive days just below 50 COVID-19 cases per 1,000 people. That’s the threshold the CDC defines as, 'moderate community transmission.'
By Friday, the case count crept back up to 50.3 --entering the CDC’s "substantial transmission" status.
According to the latest county health regulation, that should trigger an automatic return to indoor masks.
“We all want to avoid the yo-yo effect,” said Council President Tom Hucker, “There’s been no objective manual on how to get through this. We’ve been doing the best we can following the medical advice on a virus that didn’t exist even a few years ago.”
In a meeting Monday, the Council President said they’ll monitor numbers for another week and make changes to the health regulation so instead of a one-day jump triggering the mandate, they would consider the numbers of seven consecutive days.
According to the County’s COVID-19 dashboard, the count Monday, Nov. 1 stood at 51.2. If it stays in that range until Friday, Nov. 5, the council will vote to return to indoor masks.
For athletes and owners at Urban Boxing in Bethesda, they are confused and a bit disappointed.
“My heart’s broken honestly,” said General Manager Erika Castillo. “Now we have to redeliver the news and put our signs back up. With fall coming in more folks want to work out indoor and with the mask mandate being taken away our hope was that we would get more people in.”
“To me, it sends a mixed signal, I don’t where we are, I don’t really understand the chart,” said gym member Wes Williams.
Williams, who just finished his boxing workout, said he can exercise longer without a mask, with a mask on he said he gets winded after a few minutes.
“But safety first,” he said, “I understand you have to keep the mask on to keep others safe versus yourself. Whatever it takes to get to a safe place or a safe environment so we can take the mask off longer, I would like that better.”