Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced on Thursday that all schools can begin reopening in his state despite the coronavirus pandemic that remains.
The governor’s office cited improved health statistics for the move, adding that the positivity rate for the virus among Marylanders under the age of 35 declined by 44% since late July.
For residents over the age of 35, the positivity rate dropped below 3%.
“As a result of our improved health metrics, every single county school system in the state of Maryland is now fully authorized to begin safely reopening,” Hogan said.
The Republican governor added that “there is no substitute for in-person instruction.”
Local school districts were given a deadline of Aug. 14 to submit their reopening plans to the state for the 2020-2021 academic year since schools first closed in March, WBAL-TV reported.
Many districts have announced that the fall semester will remain taking place virtually.
State Superintendent Karen Salmon said $10 million in grant funding will be made available to help schools transition to in-person learning but encouraged districts to reevaluate their mode of instruction after the semester’s first quarter.
Maryland has had over 105,000 cases of the coronavirus and over 3,000 deaths.
