Larry Hogan announces outdoor restrictions to be lifted Saturday originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The state of Maryland, along with the rest of the country, is slowly but surely starting to open back up after more than a year of restrictions and safety guidelines to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The latest update came Wednesday from Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who announced that starting Saturday the entire state of Maryland would see several restrictions lifted.
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Hogan's announcement specifically listed outdoor entertainment and sports venues as areas that will have all current capacity restrictions lifted. There are still mask mandates throughout the state and the city of Baltimore has not yet clarified how they will be reacting to the statewide restrictions being removed.
While this bodes well for the Ravens to potentially kick off their 2021 season with a sold-out stadium, it's unclear how the Orioles are going to approach this news. The organization has been cautious with previous restrictions being relaxed and the team has not yet announced if they will be opening up Oriole Park at Camden Yards to its full capacity as soon as this weekend when the state will allow it.
Down the road, the Nationals have already announced they will not be reaching full capacity for their home games until June 11, though they did expand their seating just this week. The Capitals and Wizards, the only two other local professional teams currently in season, are also in the process of opening up more.
Even with the O's still weighing their options in how to proceed, this is exciting news for fans across the area as just the latest step in the country moving back toward a sense of normalcy.
