On April 15, to further stem the spread of COVID-19, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued a new face-covering and physical-distancing Order. Here are the highlights.

Effective at 7:00 AM on April 18:

• all public transportation riders and operators, except for operators in a separate compartment that is off-limits to riders, must wear a face covering;
• all customers over nine years old must wear a face covering while inside an enclosed area at a retail or food service establishment;
• adult customers accompanying children age two through nine must use reasonable efforts to cause the children to wear a face-covering while inside an enclosed area at a retail or food service establishment;
• retail establishment staffers must wear a face covering while working in areas open to the general public and areas in which interaction with other staffers are likely; and
• food service establishment staffers who interact with customers, including food delivery personnel, must wear a face covering while working.

Under the Order, single-use face coverings must be properly discarded in a trash receptacle. And, the Order recommends that reusable face coverings be cleaned frequently, at least once per day.

The Order defines face-covering broadly: “A covering that fully covers a person’s nose and mouth, but is not a medical-grade mask.”The definition includes, without limitation, “scarves and bandanas.”

The Order also imposes new physical distancing requirements on retail establishments.

They must, in good faith and to the extent possible:

• where a queue is expected to form, designate with signs, tape, or by other means at least six-foot spacing for those in the queue;
• sanitize, or provide customers with a means to sanitize, cart handles and baskets available to customers;
• make clean restrooms, stocked with soap or sanitizer, available to staffers and customers;
• allow staffer to wash their hands at least every 30 minutes; and
• post signs at each entrance notifying customers about the face-covering requirement.

The Order shall remain in effect until the state of emergency ends. And, anyone who knowingly and willfully violates the Order faces conviction for a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to a year, or both.