Gov. Larry Hogan said Maryland will lift its mask mandate on Saturday, May 15, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s announcement that fully-vaccinated Americans can safely remove their masks in public.
Masks will still be required for those on public transportation, in health care settings and schools for the time being.
Those who are not fully vaccinated should still consider wearing a mask in public, Hogansaid. He said there is no way to confirm who has and who hasn’t been vaccinated, so the state decided to remove the mandate and instead relay the CDC’s best practices with regard to mask use.
At a Wednesday news conference, Hogan said the state planned to revoke the mask mandate once 70% of the adult population had received at least one dose of vaccine. On Thursday, the CDC made a surprise announcement that fully-vaccinated Americans could safely remove their masks in both indoor and outdoor settings.Maryland was already set to remove indoor and outdoor venue capacity restrictions starting Saturday, in accordance with Hogan’s Wednesday announcement.