into stage 2 does not mean this crisis is behind us." he still encouraged residents to continue to practice social distancing and wear face masks while inside. these lifted restrictions are still subject to local jurisdiction. at this point, baltimore city still has the "stay at home" order in place. montgomery and prince george's counties also are not moving forward with stage 2 at this time. under this executive order large and small retail shops, specialty vendors, wholesalers, warehouses, banks, real estate offices, travel agencies, auto dealers, tattoo parlors and showrooms are all able to resume operations. however, social, community, recreational, leisure, and sporting gatherings and events of more than 10 are still prohibited. additionally, senior centers, indoor service at restaurants and bars, fitness centers, theaters, indoor malls, and other indoor recreation such as pool halls, bowling alleys, mini golf, and social clubs must remain closed. effective friday june 12, 2020, at 5:00 pm, hogan initiated additional reopenings in stage 2. it included indoor service at restaurants, at 50% capacity, and outdoor amusements. effective friday june 19, at 5:00 pm, arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, casinos, indoor gyms, malls, roller rinks, social clubs, and studio fitness were permitted to reopen. stage 3 (september 2020) stage 3 involves reopening activities considered high risk. this stage originally was set to require an fda approved vaccine that was widely available, however governor hogan placed the state in stage 3 effective september 4, 2020 at 5:00 pm. in stage 3 all businesses are permitted to be open. movie theaters and live entertainment are restricted to 50% capacity, or up to 100 people at indoor venues and 250 at outdoor venues. effective september 21, 2020, hogan expanded capacity of indoor dining at restaurants from 50% to 75%. effective october 1, 2020, hogan resumed permitting indoor visitation at nursing homes, as long as there is not a covid-19 outbreak at the nursing home, and the county's positivity rate is less than 10%. additionally, child care centers are permitted to return to their full licensed capacity. effective march 12, 2021, hogan lifted capacity limits for indoor and outdoor dining, retail, religious facilities, fitness centers, personal services, and indoor recreation. in addition, hogan expanded capacity for large indoor and outdoor venues including conference venues, wedding venues, concert venues, conventions, theaters, racing venues, and sports venues to 50%. hogan also lifted quarantine requirements and restrictions for out-of-state travel. some counties and municipalities continue to have restrictions in place, such as the city of salisbury's residential gathering limit. effective may 15, 2021, hogan lifted all remaining restrictions on businesses, restaurants, and other venues. he also lifted the majority of the face covering mandate, except for the requirement to wear a face covering in schools, health care settings, and public transportation per cdc guidelines. vaccination timelines maryland is distributing the vaccines using a phased approach, based on relative risk of exposure or developing serious illness. phase 1a: health care workers; residents and staff of nursing homes; first responders, public safety, corrections. (phase 1a began in mid-late december 2020.) phase 1b: assisted living, independent living, behavioral health and developmentally disabled group homes, and other congregate facilities; adults age 75 and older; education and childcare; and continuity of government. (the state entered phase 1b on january 18, 2021.) phase 1c: adults age 65–74; essential workers in lab services, food and agriculture, manufacturing, postal service, public transit, and grocery workers. (the state entered phase 1c on january 25, 2021.) phase 2a: adults age 60–64. (the state entered phase 2a on march 23, 2021.) phase 2b: ages 16+ at increased risk of severe covid-19 illness due to comorbidities. (the state entered phase 2b on march 30, 2021.) phase 2c: essential workers in critical utilities, transportation, finance, it, food service, etc. (the state entered phase 2c on april 13, 2021.) phase 3: general population aged 16 and older (the state entered phase 3 on april 19, 2021.) government response 2019-2020 school year on march 12, 2020, karen salmon, superintendent of the maryland state department of education, announced that all maryland public schools were to be closed from march 16 through march 27, 2020. superintendent salmon announced on march 25, 2020, an extended four-week closure, until april 24; governor hogan added that the additional four-week closure was "somewhat aspirational" and they would reassess the situation in that time. on april 17, 2020, superintendent salmon, after consultation with the state board of education and public health experts, extended the closure of maryland public schools through may 15. on may 6, 2020, superintendent salmon announced that schools would remain closed for the remainder of the 2019–20 academic school year. 2020-2021 school year the maryland state department of education granted authority to the individual county boards of education to develop a recovery plan consistent with the state's maryland together: maryland's recovery plan for education. counties were required to complete and post to their websites a recovery plan by august 14, 2020. the plans must include various requirements, such as equity in instruction, stakeholder groups, and standards. many boards developed a three-stage plan, with stage one being remote learning, stage two a hybrid of remote and in-class, and stage three a full return to class. harford county public schools began the school year in the remote stage with "learning resource centers" as a place for children needing supervision during the day to receive it, along with internet access and breakfast and lunch. the maryland public secondary schools athletic association postponed the fall and winter 2020 sports seasons. on august 27, 2020, governor larry hogan announced that all schools in maryland can safely reopen. "i am announcing that as a result of our improved health metrics, every single county school system in the state of maryland is now fully authorized to begin safely reopening," hogan said. superintendent of schools dr. karen salmon said she strongly encourages local school systems to reevaluate their mode of instruction at the end of the first quarter, and that the state of maryland has $10 million in grant funding available to help systems that are able to move toward in-person instruction. maryland school superintendents had been requesting guidelines for reopening from dr. salmon, since june. the public school superintendents' association of maryland president, talbot county superintendent kelly griffith, said "the governor's health metrics and guidelines for reopening schools come far too late in the process of planning for the coming school year, which begins sept. 8. every school system was required to submit its plans for instruction for the coming months by aug. 14, and school districts had already made a decision to go online." on september 24, 2020, governor hogan announced that fall sports were authorized to resume on october 7. many school districts in maryland opened in a virtual mode, shifting some or all grade levels to hybrid in late september to mid-october, 2020. all districts reverted to virtual by early december 2020 due to the spike in covid-19 cases. maryland public school districts 2020 hybrid instruction county date hybridinstruction began date hybridinstruction ended