The Prince George’s County indoor dining ban has been extended until at least Jan. 29, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced in a release Thursday.
Alsobrooks cited rising COVID-19 cases in the county as the rationale for extending the ban, which went into effect Dec. 16. The ban was set to expire Saturday.
“Much to our dismay, COVID-19 cases continue to rise and our metrics show that we need to extend measures previously implemented to minimize the spread of the disease,” read the release.
There were more than 3,600 new COVID-19 cases in the week of Jan. 3, up about 16 percent from the week before, according to the county’s coronavirus dashboard. Prince George’s County has had the most COVID-19 cases out of all the jurisdictions in the state, according to data from the Maryland Department of Health.
Last week, College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn called for the indoor dining ban to be extended for “a couple more weeks.”
Earlier this week, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser extended the city’s ban on indoor dining until Jan. 22. Nearby Montgomery County has also banned indoor dining until further notice.
Outdoor dining in Prince George’s County is still limited to 50 percent capacity and retail establishments are still restricted to 25 percent capacity.
