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An advocate for the food and hospitality industry in Maryland is stepping up pressure on Montgomery County to loosen its grip on restrictions on indoor dining.
An advocate for the food and hospitality industry in Maryland is stepping up pressure on Montgomery County to loosen its grip on restrictions on indoor dining.
The Restaurant Association of Maryland, or RAM, is calling on the county after Prince George County decided to join other jurisdictions in allowing 25% indoor catering capacity. DC and Baltimore also dropped their own bans last week.
Dining out in Montgomery County has been banned since December 10.
“Montgomery County is now on an island in its own right,” association president and CEO Marshall Weston told WTOP.
Weston cites the drop in COVID-19 measures in Montgomery County, as the positivity rate, which currently stands at 6.6%, according to RAM’s press release. The release also notes that Prince George’s positivity rate is higher at 9.6%.
“When you really look at all the metrics that Montgomery County claims to be looking at, we see some good news and some good signs,” Weston said.
But the Montgomery County COVID-19 Dashboard cites what it classifies as “very high risk of transmission” data, such as the seven-day average number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population.
As of January 25, the number was 35.4.
Weston believes there are other nicer county indicators, such as declining hospitalizations and the number of cases has dropped “to double digits in the past two weeks.”
The Montgomery County Dashboard reported 460 new daily cases on January 11, up from 400 exactly two weeks later on January 25.
Weston believes restaurants are not the problem with the spread of COVID-19, but can be part of the solution.
“Because restaurants continue to provide a safe and regulated space for people to gather, and with no place to go like restaurants, people continue to have parties and gather in their homes, which we know for sure, is the # 1 cause of COVID-19 has spread, ”Weston said.
Weston was asked about a general reasoning behind indoor eating bans for safety reasons and amid newer variants of COVID-19.
“It sounds like reasons that come from people getting a paycheck,” Weston said.
WTOP has contacted Montgomery County for a response to the association’s report.
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