Md. To Require Masks Indoors At State Agencies In Public, Shared Spaces
Maryland state employees and visitors to state buildings and leased spaces will be required to wear a face covering in all public or shared spaces.
State Agencies are also getting updated guidance allowing them discretion to implement tele-work and hybrid work schedules for applicable employees.
Also, according to Governor Larry Hogan, the state will provide two hours of paid leave for any state employee who gets a booster shot.
Hogan’s office released these updates Monday:
Face Covering Requirement For State Buildings. Beginning Jan. 3, 2022, face coverings will be required for employees and visitors in all state buildings and leased space in all public or shared spaces.
Paid Leave For Booster Shots. To encourage booster shots among all eligible state employees, the state will be providing two hours of paid leave for any employee who receives a booster. This benefit will apply retroactively: employees who present proof of receiving a booster will receive the leave. All employers are encouraged to offer paid leave for vaccinations and booster shots.
Updated Quarantine Protocols for State Employees. The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and Maryland Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has issued updated guidance to state agencies and offices adopting new CDC guidance on quarantine protocols for state employees, and allowing agency heads discretion to implement telework and hybrid work schedules for applicable employees while maintaining operations to continue serving Marylanders. Front-facing agency services will continue to remain open.
RECENT COVID-19 ACTIONS
Over the last several weeks, the state has taken a series of emergency actions to address the convergence of the Delta and Omicron variants:
- Established a surge operations center to optimize hospital bed capacity and fully utilize alternate care sites
- Committed an additional $100 million for hospitals and nursing homes to address urgent staffing needs
- Began to distribute 500,000 at-home rapid test kits through local health departments and BWI Airport
- Expanded the days and hours of state-run testing sites and opened two additional surge testing sites to meet increased demand
- Made an additional $30 million in funding available to school systems to further enhance their own testing resources
- Expanded genomic sequencing to track and detect COVID-19 variants
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