Montgomery County is again under an indoor mask mandate after it returned to the status of “substantial transmission” of COVID-19 based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
The increase in cases has led the County Council, acting in its role as the County Board of Health, to again invoke its regulation mandating masks be worn indoors.
According to the Board of Health regulation on mask requirements, if the County’s rate of transmission is measured as substantial for seven consecutive days, the indoor mask mandate return is to be implemented.
In early August, the County Council, acting as the Board of Health, voted unanimously to require all residents, regardless of vaccination status, to wear face coverings indoors once the County became an area of “substantial transmission” of COVID-19. See Board of Health regulation 19-975 for more detailed information.
The CDC recommended in July that jurisdictions with substantial or high transmission rates of COVID-19 should require masks be worn indoors. The CDC defines substantial transmission as 50-99 cases per 100,000 residents over a period of seven days.
The County’s COVID-19 data dashboard provides the latest metrics and key indicators. The dashboard is updated daily by 2 p.m.
Residents who are not vaccinated can find free vaccination clinics at www.GoVAXMoCo.com. People who feel sick or think they may have been exposed to COVID-19 should get tested. Locations of free testing clinics can be found at www.MoCoCOVIDtesting.org.
