Remaining restrictions on venues, restaurants to be lifted in Md. this weekend

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Governor Larry Hogan made several announcements during a press conference Wednesday afternoon regarding COVID-19 in the state.

Effective Saturday, May 15th, all indoor and outdoor venues statewide will be allowed to resume normal operations. All remaining capacity restrictions will be lifted on indoor and outdoor entertainment, art, and sports venues.

In addition, all restaurants and bars can resume normal operations starting Saturday. All remaining restrictions will be lifted.

The indoor mask mandate remains in effect, however, the governor says the mandate will be lifted as soon as 70% of adults in the state have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Currently, 65.4% of Marylanders 18 and older have been vaccinated, with 86% of all Marylanders over 65 having received the vaccine.

The COVID-19 vaccine eligibility for Marylanders age 12 to 15 will open tomorrow. 11 of the state’s mass vaccination sites and hundreds of pharmacy locations will be ready to administer the Pfizer vaccine to adolescents right away.

Governor Hogan has also directed the Maryland Department of Labor to work with the federal administration to begin the process of reinstating work search requirements.

As of Wednesday, the State of Maryland has administered more than 5.3 million vaccines. We’re told the state has expanded to 665 pharmacies and 271 doctors offices, and the Equity Task Force has completed more than 350 missions.