Most of Maryland will stay under stay-at-home orders

At least half of Maryland residents will still be under stay-at-home orders Friday, when the state begins to reopen its economy after having shut down for nearly two months to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Some of state’s most populous jurisdictions — Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard and Calvert counties, and the city of Baltimore — will extend their stay-at-home orders due to high concentrations of COVID-19 cases.

The five central Maryland jurisdictions make up about 2.9 million of the state’s nearly 6 million residents.

Gov. Larry Hogan announced this week that phase one of his “Maryland Strong Roadmap to Recovery” plan will begin at 5 p.m. Friday. Retail stores, personal services businesses and houses of worship will be allowed to resume activities at 50% capacity.

Mr. Hogan noted Wednesday that the state has seen a 14-day plateau and decline in hospitalizations for coronavirus infections, except in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. In announcing his easing of statewide stay-at-home orders, the Republican governor gave the counties flexibility in reopening their economies.

Elected officials in Prince George’s, Montgomery, Calvert and Howard counties, and the mayor of Baltimore announced extensions of the stay-at-home orders Thursday.

Collectively, the five jurisdictions account for 23,797 of the state’s 33,903 coronavirus cases and 1,009 of its 1,748 COVID-19 deaths.

Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. expressed hesitancy about reopening, but said Wednesday he would make a decision in the next 24 hours. Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman Jr. said Thursday that his decision would come after he assessed the situation with the county health department.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, all Democrats, on Thursday criticized Mr. Hogan’s decision to begin reopening this week.

“Personally, I think he went farther than he probably should have right now,” Mr. Elrich said. “He should’ve waited until the cases were at least on a downturn for a period of time so that you knew that you had more control over the virus than we do right now.”

Ms. Alsobrooks noted that Prince George’s and Montgomery counties have the state’s highest concentrations of coronavirus cases, and account for a third of the state’s population and about 40% of the state’s economy.

“If Prince Georgians are sick, so is the rest of the state of Maryland,” Ms. Alsobrooks said at a press conference, where she announced an extension of the stay-at-home order to June 1.

Ms. Alsobrooks said her county isn’t ready to reopen because it has the highest rate of positive test results for the coronavirus in the state, with 1 in 3 tests return back positive, compared to the statewide rate of 1 in 5.

Meanwhile, Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner said Thursday that she will keep the stay-at-home order in place but will ease some restrictions, allowing curbside pick up for retailers, opening pet grooming and animal adoption centers, and permitting car wash businesses to resume operation.

Officials in Harford, Carroll, Cecil and Talbot counties have announced they will follow the governor’s plan to begin reopening Friday.

In Virginia, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Thursday that he has formally requested a delay in implementing phase one of Gov. Ralph Northam’s reopening plan.

“I cannot justify risking the health and safety of the residents of the great city of Richmond by moving forward with phase one,” Mr. Stoney said at a press conference. “I just cannot do that because of the data that we have access to today.”

Mr. Northam, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that Virginia would begin Friday to reopen its economy, with the exception of Northern Virginia, which is experiencing increases in coronavirus cases.

Northern Virginia — Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun and Prince William counties — are among the state’s most populous and wealthiest jurisdictions. Collectively, they account for nearly 13,000 of the state’s 27,813 coronavirus cases and 409 of its 955 COVID-19 deaths.

Mr. Stoney said Richmond also has seen an increase in the percentage of positive tests over the last 14 days.

The mayor sent a letter asking Mr. Northam to delay phase one in Richmond, and the governor agreed Thursday afternoon to do so. He granted a similar request by Accomack County on the state’s eastern shore.

Also on Thursday, the District area’s Metro system announced it would no longer just “strongly” recommending that riders wear masks on buses and trains — it is a requirement, starting Monday.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld agreed to the change, although a majority of riders already wore a mask, because the rule is “a necessary step as Metro plans for an eventual recovery with more riders using the system,” according to a press release.