Baltimore To Reopen Restaurants, Gyms, Breweries

Elizabeth Janney
Updated ·3 min read

BALTIMORE, MD — Starting Friday morning, Baltimore City restaurants may reopen for indoor and outdoor dining.

Mayor Brandon Scott lifted the prohibition on indoor dining after announcing ICU and acute care hospital utilization rates had dipped slightly to 88 and 86 percent, respectively.

"With the most recent leveling in cases and to address the economic impact of COVID-19, I have made the decision to adjust our city's COVID-19 mandates, which will be in effect for the next four weeks at least," Scott said.

The following will be allowed in Baltimore, effective at 6 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 22:

  • Restaurants may reopen outdoor dining at 50 percent capacity, with one-hour time limit and sign-in sheet required. Tents must have flaps open, or these will be considered indoor dining.

  • Restaurants may reopen indoor dining at 25 percent capacity with one-hour time limit and sign-in sheet required.

  • Breweries and bars without food licenses may reopen at 50 percent outdoor and 25 percent indoor capacity.

  • Hookah and cigar lounges may keep retail stores open at 25 percent capacity but must remain closed to on-site consumption.

  • Live-streaming of performances may resume.

  • Outdoor gatherings have a 25-person limit, and indoor gatherings are limited to 10 people.

  • Fitness classes may resume with a 10-person maximum. Masks are required.

Baltimore has 36,055 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 757 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the Maryland Department of Health reported Wednesday, Jan. 20.

The city's coronavirus positivity rate is 5.65 percent, based on the latest data:

Courtesy of Maryland Department of Health.
Courtesy of Maryland Department of Health.

"Baltimore has the lowest positivity rate across the state. Let’s keep it that way," Scott said at a news conference Wednesday morning. "Although this is good news, we are still counting on everyone to be responsible and do their part in maintaining this downward trend.”

Deciding to allow businesses to reopen for in-person service was a decision the mayor said he made with the health commissioner's guidance. In crafting the new guidelines, he said he took into consideration the suggestions of business owners.

The one-hour time limit in restaurants, for example, allows them "to have more people come through the doors throughout the day" despite limited capacity, Scott said.

At the same time, it prevents congregating for long periods in one place, which could expose people to the virus.

"We have to balance" the needs of businesses, Scott said, "but we ultimately have to be thinking about health."

Sign-in sheets will enable contact tracers to quickly notify people if there is an outbreak, according to the city's health commissioner.

"We're cautiously optimistic that we may have reached a tipping point," Baltimore City Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa said Wednesday.

"However, the reopening ... comes with a reminder that these are still locations where masking" cannot always be maintained, since people may remove their face coverings while eating and drinkings, Dzirasa said, adding: "I urge residents to continue to be cautious."

The city was averaging more than 230 new cases a day of the virus, and hospital utilization rates were still "high," she said.

The mayor said the new restrictions will be in effect for four weeks, which would be through at least Friday, Feb. 19.

Scott's prohibition on in-person dining took effect Dec. 11, 2020.

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This article originally appeared on the Baltimore Patch