Maryland State Police say no charges or arrests were made Thursday evening when troopers were deployed statewide by Gov. Larry Hogan to help crack down on coronavirus restriction violations.
The agency said in a press release Friday that troopers “had to only issue a minimal amount of warnings for people in businesses not wearing face coverings or social distancing.”
Of the 730 checks made at bars and restaurants, troopers reportedly found “the overwhelming majority” of people following the Republican governor’s mask mandate, social distancing rules and required midnight closing time.
The department also said Thursday that more than 200 people called or sent emails about compliance violations to the state’s virus prevention hotline, which Mr. Hogan turned into a 24/7 operation.
Mr. Hogan earlier this week announced the hotline hours expansion and deployment of troopers to the state’s 23 counties as part of a new “Compliance Education and Enforcement Operation” aimed at curtailing the state’s virus surge.
As of Friday, Maryland Department of Health data show 192,858 total cases, of which 2,378 are new, which is the fourth-highest number ever recorded in the state. An additional 22 deaths brings the toll to 4,414. The seven-day average daily case positivity rate is 6.3%, which exceeds the 5% benchmark set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Emily Zantow can be reached at ezantow@washingtontimes.com.
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