Maryland will end its 15-month-long COVID-19 state of emergency on July 1, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday. The state will no longer require masks and face coverings in any settings, but businesses will be allowed to continue to set their own policies.

“With all of this amazing progress, and thanks in large part to the hard work, sacrifices, and the vigilance of the people of Maryland, we have finally reached the light at the end of that long tunnel,” Hogan said.

The state will have a grace period through Aug. 15 for Marylanders and agencies to transition. The eviction moratorium will be extended through that date, residents have until then to renew their driver’s licenses and tags, and health officials will have that extra time to transition away from emergency services.

Hogan specified that the state will not require masks in schools, camps, and childcare facilities. When asked whether local school districts could make impose their own mask requirement, Hogan said he didn’t know if they had the authority to do so.

“I would hope that they would follow the science and follow the direction of all the state agencies who have really looked at this pretty carefully,” Hogan said.

This announcement comes as the state has administered more than 6.5 million COVID-19 vaccinations, with more than 72% of Marylanders over 18 having received at least one dose. The state’s seven-day positivity rate is 0.82%, down from just under 6% in January. Hogan said that positivity rate is lower than 43 other states. COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state are at 194, which Hogan said is the lowest level since March 2020, when the state of emergency was first declared.

While the governor said ending the state of emergency is an important step in the recovery, he warned that those who have not gotten vaccinated will still be at risk.

“At this point, there’s simply no excuse for not getting vaccinated,” Hogan said. “The vaccines are safe, they’re effective, and they’re readily available anywhere.”

The state is partnering with the Baltimore Orioles this Father’s Day weekend to hold vaccination clinics at Camden Yards. People who get vaccinated there will receive two free lower-level tickets. Hogan said the state is midway through its vaccination lottery promotion, where the state randomly selects a vaccinated resident to receive a $40,000 prize each day. One vaccinated resident will claim a grand prize of $400,000 on July 4, the final drawing. 

D.C.-area counties are still trying to figure out if they will maintain their own states of emergency. In Prince George’s County, the county’s state of emergency is aligned with the state’s, but a spokesperson for County Executive Angela Alsobrooks says officials are still deciding what action to take, and they will have an announcement “in the next couple of days.”

Meanwhile, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said he hoped that Hogan would have tied the eviction moratorium and unemployment benefits to the achievement of unemployment metrics. Earlier this month, Hogan said that the extended unemployment benefits, providing an additional $300 a week and not requiring applicants to prove they are actively seeking work, will also be ending in July. The state’s unemployment rate is around 5.8% as of late April, according to the state’s department of labor.

“I dearly wish the governor would rethinking this, extend it, tie it to a metric,” Elrich said at his Wednesday press conference. “I think we can all agree that when unemployment is normal, we can move in a different direction on benefits, but right now unemployment is not normal and it’s probably going to be a while before we get there.”

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said he will let the commonwealth’s state of emergency expire at the end of the month, but will keep some protections in place.  D.C.’s state of emergency currently extends to July 25, and officials have not indicated that they will lift it any sooner.

This story was updated to include comments from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties’ officials.