BALTIMORE (WMAR) — Wednesday at 5 p.m., Governor Larry Hogan will give an update on stage one of the recovery plan.
Last week, Hogan said he was seeing encouraging numbers: a downward trend in hospitalizations and a plateau in the number of ICU beds used.
He said if these trends continued this week, which the state Department of Health numbers show they have, he’d be ready to start stage one, which includes low risk activities, quality of life improvements and lifting the stay at home order.
"It is thanks to all of you and your incredible sacrifices that we are making great progress," said Hogan on May 6. "We are flattening the curve and we are preparing to launch our reopening plan in order to safely get people back to work, safely get our small businesses back open again and get our economy back on track so that Maryland and our nation can defeat this virus and come back stronger and better than ever."
Beyond lifting the stay at home order, stage one includes reopening certain businesses like car washes, allowing for curbside pick and drop off, as well as limited attendance at outdoor religious gatherings and outdoor gym and fitness classes.
Hogan said he has heard from industry specific business and religious work groups about plans to reopen safely.
"Each of these work groups has collaborated on proposed recommendations and guidelines to help determine how they can prepare to reopen in ways that can keep their employees, their customers and members of their congregations safe," said Hogan.
He said all of these re-openings would be contingent upon people continuing to social distance.
"It will remain critical that you continue to follow public health guidance," said Hogan.
His Roadmap to Recovery plan says if there’s indications Marylanders aren’t following them, or there's an increase in hospitalizations or significant outbreaks of community transmission, it could mean a reversal of stage one.
WMAR-2 News will carry Hogan's press conference live at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
