Olszewski Announces Plans to End County Building Mask Requirement, Employee Testing February 28

Amid continued decreases in COVID-19 metrics, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski today announced plans to lift the indoor mask requirement for County buildings and facilities and to end required COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated employees, effective, Monday, February 28 2022.

“As we approach the two-year mark of this pandemic, we are actively working to responsibly provide as much normalcy as possible for our employees and residents,” Olszewski said. “The numbers are trending in the right direction and I am glad to be in a position to take these next steps in Baltimore County.”

Since early January, Baltimore County’s average positivity rate has decreased by nearly 89 percent, Baltimore County’s average case rate has decreased by 95 percent, and the average number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has decreased by about 77 percent. Approximately 78 percent of county residents ages five and up are either fully-or-partially vaccinated.

Last fall, the County implemented weekly testing requirements for employees who did not report their vaccination status. The final day of required employee testing for these employees will be Friday, February 25.

While the mask requirement for County buildings will be lifted effective Monday, February 28, unvaccinated employees and visitors are encouraged to continue wearing masks.

Baltimore County’s most recent state of emergency and countywide indoor mask requirement expired earlier this month.