The Baltimore County Council announced that it will continue with virtual sessions and meetings.
The Council had been considering a return to in-person sessions and meetings, including Work Sessions and Legislative Sessions, with the Legislative Session scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 6 p.m.
Since the Council held its Budget Adoption Session in-person in the
Council Chamber on May 27th, COVID vaccines were becoming more available,
cases/hospitalizations/deaths were trending down in a positive direction, the local State of Emergency had ended in July, and the State had lifted all restrictions.
It appeared that a return to in-person on Sept. 7 might be a realistic goal.
But now, as we are in the month of August and concluding the Council’s summer schedule, although many people are vaccinated, there is still a sizeable segment of the population
that is not vaccinated.
There are also significant concerns over the potential spread of the very
contagious Delta variant and cases/hospitalizations/deaths now appear to be trending in the wrong direction.
As a consequence, the Baltimore County Council will continue to conduct its meetings and sessions virtually via video teleconference.
“We want to be smart and deliberate about how we respond to the Delta variant and this recent uptick in COVID numbers,” said Council
Chairman Julian E. Jones, Jr.
“Although we would like to resume in-person meetings and ‘get back to normal,’ we don’t want to put anyone’s health and safety at risk unnecessarily.”
Anyone wishing to connect to the Council’s virtual meetings can do so by visiting the County Council Virtual Sessions and Hearings page on the Council Website
at
https://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/countycouncil/virtualmeetings.html.
You can also reach the County Council at 410-887-3196.
