Update: Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks also updated the county’s outdoor mask mandate on Friday in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

“We will follow CDC recommendations that say those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not need to wear a mask when outdoors walking, running, hiking or biking, or in small gatherings with members of their household or other fully vaccinated people,” Alsobrooks said in a statement.

However, unlike in most of the state, masks are still required at large outdoor sporting venues and at all indoor venues. Montgomery County put forth similar guidance this week.

Original: Governor Larry Hogan has ended Maryland’s outdoor mask mandate. Counties, however, may continue to require masks to be worn outdoors.

“Lifting this emergency order is in line with the new [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] advisory guidance yesterday,” Hogan told reporters Wednesday afternoon, adding that it “follows the advice of our team of public health experts as well as the advice from national health leaders.”

Starting Saturday, the state will also lift mandates on physical distancing and mask wearing at outdoor restaurant and bar venues. Social distancing and masks will still be required inside restaurants, businesses, and public transportation.

For those who aren’t yet vaccinated, Hogan says “public health experts recommend that you immediately get vaccinated, and until you do that you should continue to be cautious and continue to wear masks, especially when you cannot be physically distanced.”

Hogan says he hopes that children will be able to get the vaccine in the coming weeks following the conclusion of trials on more than 6,700 children between the ages of 6 months and 11 years old with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

A little more than 42% of Marylanders have received a first vaccine dose, and a little less than a third are fully vaccinated. Maryland is 18th in the country for vaccine distribution, right in front of Virginia. (The District, meanwhile, is 37th in vaccine distribution nationwide.) Maryland’s COVID positivity rates sits around 3.8%. Racial disparities in its vaccinations persist, with more white residents fully vaccinated than Black and Latinx residents, according to state health department data.

Meanwhile, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich told reporters Wednesday afternoon that they would continue to follow the masking guidance of the CDC and the state’s department of health — “whichever is stricter.”

“We will follow the CDC guidelines,” Elrich said in a statement Wednesday night, as reported by Fox5. “The governor’s order regarding masks does not comport with the CDC guidelines.”

The CDC’s latest guidance issued earlier this week says mask wearing outdoors is only necessary for those who are not vaccinated and says masks should still be worn while in close contact with others. Hogan’s new order permits everyone to be unmasked outside and in close contact with others.

Elrich added that the county will also not be aligned with the governor’s new orders for outdoor dining.

More than half of Montgomery County residents have received a first vaccine dose and the county council approved loosening some restrictions on Tuesday. The county’s COVID positivity rate sits around 2.1%

In order for the county to fall in line with the state’s mandate, Elrich and county health officials would have to request that the county council lift the outdoor masking mandate at their meeting next week. 

“We’re opening exactly when we should and how we should,” Elrich said. “In looking at our own numbers, we are relatively unique. In fact, we’re totally unique in terms of large counties in the state of Maryland.”

Over in Prince George’s County, slightly less than a quarter of residents have been fully vaccinated with a positivity rate of 4.4%, according to county health data. County Executive Angela Alsobrooks has yet to announce what Prince George’s plans are for the outdoor mask mandate.

Hogan says in the coming weeks he hopes to take additional action “to return to a sense of normalcy … [but] the fastest way to put this pandemic behind us once and for all is for every single eligible Marylander to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

This post has been updated with additional information about Hogan’s Wednesday order and Montgomery County’s response.