ADADNonetheless, with an average of more than 3,000 new cases daily, experts say it’s still too early to lift major restrictions on social and commercial activity. “There’s still kindling to light the fire,” Montgomery County Health Officer Travis Gayles said, citing the emergence in the Washington metro region of the variants first detected in South Africa and the United Kingdom. But officials in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, which collectively account for nearly a third of the state’s population and 36 percent of its coronavirus cases, say they don’t plan to roll back restrictions yet. When metrics do allow for reopening, some officials say, the process could look different from the summer and fall of last year. ADBut public health experts say that when it comes to managing the virus, it’s crucial that local and state governments remain nimble.

Source: Washington Post February 19, 2021 11:00 UTC