Amended Board of Health Regulation Will Require Seven Consecutive Days of ‘Substantial COVID-19 Transmission’ Before Implementing Indoor Mask Mandate in Public Spaces

The Montgomery County Council, acting as the County Board of Health, this week approved an amended regulation to require seven consecutive days of “substantial COVID-19 transmission” in the County before an indoor face covering requirement is reinstated in areas open to the public. The requirement to wear face coverings in indoor spaces that are open to the public also terminates when the County returns to a status of moderate COVID-19 transmission for seven consecutive days.

A seven-day period for monitoring COVID-19 transmission rates provides a more accurate picture of public health trends related to the virus and eliminates quick swings back and forth on indoor masking requirements.

The County is deemed an area of substantial transmission if it reaches 50 to 99.99 total new cases per 100,000 persons in the past seven days or if 8 to 9.99 percent of residents tested have positive results during the past seven days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classifies transmission values as low, moderate, substantial or high. If there is a change in COVID-19 transmission levels from substantial to moderate, the County’s seven-day clock for determining substantial transmission stops. The seven-day clock is restarted when the community enters the substantial transmission range.

The amended Board of Health regulation sets aside the notice issued on Oct. 30 by the acting health officer that would have reinstated the indoor masking requirement on Nov. 3.

The amended Board of Health regulation:

• Requires that residents must wear face coverings in indoor areas open to the public when notice is given by the health officer or a designee that the County has been an area of substantial COVID-19 transmission for seven consecutive days.
• Provides that the health officer or designee must promptly take reasonable steps to notify the public if the County has become an area of substantial transmission for seven consecutive days.
• Requires the health officer to begin counting a period of seven consecutive days on the day that the transmission status of the County changes according to the CDC.
• Establishes that for the period of substantial transmission that began on Oct. 30, 2021, the health officer must count Oct. 30, 2021 as the first day in calculating seven consecutive days of substantial transmission before a face covering requirement is triggered in indoor spaces open to the public.
• Requires that the mandate to wear face coverings in indoor spaces open to the public terminates without further action by the Board of Health when the County returns to a status of moderate transmission for a period of seven consecutive days.
• Provides that the notice to the public issued by the acting health officer on Oct. 30, 2021, which would have reinstated the indoor masking requirement as of Nov. 3, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. is null and void.

The amended Board of Health regulation became effective immediately upon its adoption by the Board of Health and would automatically terminate at 12:01 a.m. on the day immediately following the date that 85 percent or more of the County’s population is fully vaccinated, as reported by the CDC on its COVID Data Tracker. As of 3 p.m. on Nov. 2, the COVID Data Tracker reported that 77.5 percent of the County’s total population is fully vaccinated.

The Council resolution and Board of Health regulation will be posted on the Council's web page as soon as it is available.