ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Four restaurant owners in Maryland are asking a judge to block a county’s ban on dining at restaurants before it goes into effect Wednesday.
Stacie MacDonald, a Republican candidate for Maryland’s House of Delegates in 2022, said an attorney for the businesses in Anne Arundel county filed the request Tuesday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, The Capital Gazette reported.
Anne Arundel County’s ban, which is scheduled to go into effect by 5 p.m., would halt indoor and outdoor dining for a month to curb the spread of COVID-19. County Executive Steuart Pittman has said there would also be reduced capacity in gyms, casinos, salons and other stores.
The restaurant owners are arguing that Pittman does not have authority to close restaurants, and say there is no evidence that closing eateries will have an effect on the virus’s spread.
The coronavirus spreads through droplets that are emitted when people talk, laugh, sing, cough or sneeze. Indoor spaces are more risky than outdoor spaces because it might be harder to keep people apart and there’s less ventilation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chris Trumbauer, the county’s director of policy and communications, told the newspaper the county was ready to defend the challenge. “We feel confident that the county has the authority to do this,” he said.
It was not immediately clear if a hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.
Officials had placed similar restrictions on restaurants and other businesses in the spring but with the spike in coronavirus cases, Pittman said hospitals could be overwhelmed if new restrictions were not imposed. If the number of patients admitted to county and state hospitals drops during the next month, the restrictions could be rolled back.
The Maryland Restaurant Association has filed an affidavit in support of the business owners, MacDonald said in a statement.
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