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April 1, 2023

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

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Hogan Proposes $1 Billion Relief Package, Pressures Legislature for Swift Passage

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Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) unveiled a proposed billion-dollar stimulus package at a Monday morning press conference, which would give low-income families $750 checks if passed by the legislature.

If enacted, Hogan’s Recovery for the Economy, Livelihoods, Industries, Entrepreneurs and Families (RELIEF) Act would offer stimulus checks to Marylanders who qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2019 or 2020. The payouts would amount to $450 for individuals and $750 for families, with no application needed.

Hogan estimated that the $267 million in direct payments would help roughly 400,000 Marylanders. The stimulus checks would be in addition to anticipated payouts from the federal government.

Hogan said he needs the legislature’s help in passing some of the RELIEF Act’s measures, which extend beyond his emergency powers – and demanded that lawmakers quickly pass the emergency legislation.

“We took every action that we could take alone,” Hogan said.

The stimulus package provides $180 million in tax relief for unemployed residents by repealing all state and local income taxes on unemployment benefits. It would also allow small businesses to keep up to $12,000 in sales tax over the next four months, amounting to $300 million statewide.

Hogan also wants the legislature to extend and codify his executive order protecting businesses from sudden increases in unemployment taxes due to layoffs, amounting to $218 million in savings. The act would also eliminate taxes on the state’s emergency relief grants and loans for businesses.

Only about $100 million of Maryland’s rainy day funds would be be used as part of the relief package – a far cry from what other state officials and local leaders have demanded of Hogan.

Members of the Maryland United for COVID Relief NOW Coalition, headed by Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) and Montgomery County Councilmember Tom Hucker (D), held a virtual rally on Sunday to demand Hogan use more of the rainy day fund for COVID-19 relief.

Franchot has floated using a much larger portion of state reserve money for $2,000 stimulus checks to qualifying Marylanders at a cost of $925 million. He also wants to use state money for more local business aid, and in total proposed using more than a billion in state reserves for residents and businesses.

In a Monday statement on social media, Franchot said Hogan’s proposed stimulus doesn’t go far enough to help working residents. He also said the proposed checks won’t get to families fast enough.

“Maryland families need help now, but instead the Governor is passing the buck to the legislature,” Franchot wrote. “The Governor knows that he has the power to authorize direct cash payments to those in crisis right now. He can help struggling families right NOW.”

Hogan’s plans for a new state stimulus bill predate the coalition’s formation. He said using the state’s entire rainy-day fund would be an “irresponsible action,” and said he was following along with the legislature’s recommendations in using only portions of the state’s reserve money.

In December, a bipartisan legislative budget panel recommended using some of the state’s rainy day fund to combat anticipated shortfalls in the state’s budget.

Hogan noted that more federal relief funding is on its way to the state, including $400 million for much-needed rental assistance. The state has already spent more than $700 million in relief for residents and businesses, and doled out billions in unemployment benefits to Marylanders, Hogan said.

Whether the legislature moves quickly to act on Hogan’s proposal — or sees it as an opening gambit — is an open question. Legislative leaders have echoed Hogan’s assertion that providing help to the neediest Marylanders should be the top priority of the session, which begins on Wednesday, but they have yet to release details of their own economic relief package.

In a statement released after Hogan’s news conference, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) said Democrats in the legislature are “focused on getting families and small businesses back on their feet” in addition to getting students back in schools and ensuring the safety of seniors. The presiding officers said General Assembly members are planning legislation to address “a broken Unemployment Insurance system” and aid small businesses.

“We look forward to the Governor working with us to accomplish these goals and demonstrating for the country what the true value of bipartisanship can be,” Jones and Ferguson said.

Sen. Guy J. Guzzone (D-Howard County), the chair of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, called Hogan’s proposed stimulus a “good place for us to start” when it comes to getting relief to Marylanders.

Guzzone said he doesn’t think draining the state’s rainy day fund is in the best interest of the state, and added that Marylanders could still get meaningful relief without using all of the reserves.

“I actually don’t think it’s necessary, to provide substantial relief, to drain it all the way down in that regard,” Guzzone said.

He noted that many of the legislature’s relief efforts will depend on Hogan’s budget proposal, which is due later this month.

By Bennett Leckrone

Hogan: Trump Should Be Removed From Office

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Maryland’s Republican governor said Thursday there was “no question that America would be better off if the president would resign or be removed from office.”

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. made the remarks at a State House press conference in which he decried the mob siege of the U.S. Capitol building a day earlier as a “heinous and violent assault.”

Hogan said he was not sure what should happen logistically but that Donald Trump had proven himself unfit to remain in office and that Vice President Mike Pence should oversee an orderly transition of power.

“Over the last two months, the sacred tradition [of a peaceful transition of power] has come under attack from our own president,” Hogan said. “…Who has chosen to fan the flames of hate and mislead millions of voters through lies, and conspiracy theories, rather than face the reality of his own defeat.”

Hogan said that Trump had also abandoned his oath of office and fomented chaos.

“What we saw in the nation’s capital was not just an attack on the people’s representatives, our historic buildings, and our law enforcement. It was an attack on the rule of law,” Hogan said. “The foundations of self government and who we are as Americans. The mob may have shattered glass. But they did not, and they will not, shatter our democracy.”

Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford (R) tweeted earlier in the day that Trump should resign from office.

Hogan also detailed on Thursday the state’s attempts to deploy National Guard members in Washington, D.C., which was delayed by a lack of authorization from federal authorities.

Hogan said he was in a video conference with the Japanese ambassador to the United States when his chief of staff came in to inform him that the U.S. Capitol was under attack. Hogan said he immediately called a meeting of his Unified Command Team, which includes Maryland’s top law enforcement, military and emergency response officials.

During that meeting, Hogan said he got a call from a panicked U.S. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), who said the U.S. Capitol Police was overwhelmed, that there was no federal law enforcement presence, and that the leaders of Congress were pleading with him for assistance.

“However, we were repeatedly denied approval to do so,” Hogan said at the State House press conference, flanked by Rutherford, Adjutant General of the Maryland National Guard Major General Timothy Gowen, and Colonel Jerry Jones, superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

Under federal law, Maryland must receive approval from the U.S. Secretary of Defense before guard members can be sent over the border to respond to incidents in the District of Columbia.

“General Gowen was repeatedly being told by the National Guard at the national level that we did not have authorization,” Hogan said, detailing calls coming and going from his administration to D.C.

In the end, “none of us really spoke to the Secretary of Defense,” Hogan said, and it was the Secretary of the Army who called his cell phone and requested immediate assistance.

It took about 90 minutes before the state got that authority to move into the city, Hogan said.

“The initial contingent of Maryland National Guard members were the first to arrive in Washington from out of state,” Hogan said.

The governor announced Thursday that the Maryland National Guard’s mission in D.C. ― to protect and secure federal buildings ― will continue through Inauguration Day, which is Jan. 20, and the end of the month. About 500 state guard members remain in the city.

“I just want to assure all Americans that the state of Maryland will do anything and everything we possibly can to continue to secure the core of our nation’s capital,” Hogan said.

In light of political extremism, Hogan said security was also being increased around the Maryland State House complex as a precaution.

Hogan did not vote for Trump in either of the last two elections, and faced criticism in 2020 after casting a write-in vote for the deceased former President Ronald Reagan.

By Danielle E. Gaines

As State Prepares Wider Vaccination Distribution, National Guard Will Provide Logistical Support

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The Maryland National Guard will provide logistical support for the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced on Tuesday.

Guard personnel will assist state health officials with vaccination planning, operations and distribution support, he told reporters at a State House news conference. 

“We’re going to be utilizing them as we launch what will be the largest and most important vaccination campaign in the history of our state and our nation,” Hogan said. 

The state’s initial allotment of the Pfizer vaccine, 155,000 doses, will go to people in group “1A” of the rollout – front-line health-care workers, nursing home residents and staff, and first responders. 

Amid reports that two counties in the hard-hit western panhandle of the state would not be getting doses of the long-awaited vaccine, Hogan stressed that “over the course of the next week… every single hospital and every region of our state will begin to receive their first COVID-19 vaccines.”

As the state receives more vaccines, the National Guard will set up mobile vaccination clinics to assist with efforts to reach the general population, Hogan said. 

“While we still have several months of difficult struggles ahead of us, this is a turning point and a light at the end of a very long tunnel, and the beginning of the end of this deadly pandemic,” he added. 

The arrival of vaccines comes as the state’s hospitalization rate set another record on Tuesday, with 1,799 COVID patients receiving care. The rolling seven-day infection rate stands at 46.3 for every 100,000 people, just shy of the record that was set last week. 

The 61 deaths recorded on Tuesday pushed the state’s death toll past 5,000 — to 5,039.

On Wednesday, Maryland will likely surpass 241,900 cases, meaning that 4% of the state’s population — one of every 25 residents — will have been infected with the virus since the pandemic began.

Hospital workers began receiving Maryland’s first doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week. Dr. Jinlene Chan, the acting deputy Health secretary for public health said the state expects to receive 300,000 doses by the end of the month. 

She said it will take “close to a million doses” for the state to vaccinate everyone in “Phase 1” of the priority protocol — frontline health care workers, nursing home and assisted living residents and staff, and first responders. 

The governor announced that the state is making some doses available to health care personnel who work outside Maryland. He will be holding a virtual meeting with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and Virginia Gov. Ralph S. Northam (D) on Wednesday to discuss that issue and others, he said. 

Hogan said he would get the shot as soon as it becomes available to him, and he will do so publicly, to help build public confidence in the vaccine’s safety. “But I’m not going to jump the line in front of the people who are above me,” he said. 

Walgreens and CVS will handle distribution of the vaccine to nursing homes, while local health departments will vaccinate their police officers and firefighters, Chan said. 

“Our goal and our focus is really to push it out as quickly as we get it, so we can expand as quickly as we can,” she said. She cautioned that the expectation of having 300,000 doses by month’s end was subject to change. 

Hogan said the state will soon launch a “multi-lingual” public service campaign to encourage the public to get vaccinated. 

On Monday, he held a virtual roundtable with a small, diverse group of University of Maryland Medical System workers who were among the first to get vaccinated.

Among them was Shawn Hendricks, a nursing director at the University of Maryland Medical Center. A Baltimore native, she oversees multiple units that care for COVID-19 patients, and several members of her family — including her mother — have been infected. 

“One of the reasons that I wanted to definitely step up to the plate [was] because I know there’s been some hesitance,” she said. “Being African-American, we are three times more likely to be affected by COVID than any other ethnic group. So there has been death and dying — however, I’m hopeful.”  

Daisy Solares, a respiratory therapist at the UMMC Downtown Campus who has treated numerous COVID patients, said taking the vaccine brought a wave of emotion. 

“Unfortunately, my father passed away from the virus, so I’m basically doing it in honor of him,” she told the governor. 

Hogan thanked the health care workers for their service during the pandemic and for being willing to state publicly that they were willing to take the vaccine.  

“Helping us message — this is going to save lives, so we don’t lose more Dads,” he said, his voice cracking.

Dr. Michael Winters, an emergency department physician, praised all the medical professionals “who have, day in and day out, shown up courageously.”

“We’ve had those anxieties about do we get infected, what’s the risk of bringing it home to our families,” he said. 

At Tuesday’s press conference, Dr. David Marcozzi, the COVID-19 Incident Commander for the University of Maryland Medical System and a top Hogan adviser, offered assurances that people cannot get the virus from the vaccine. 

“It will protect you from getting COVID-19,” he said. “There is no way to get COVID-19 from this vaccine.” 

Chan and Marcozzi stressed that people will need to get both doses of the vaccine to get the 95% effectiveness offered by Pfizer’s product and the 94% offered by Moderna’s. The Moderna vaccine should be available next week, Chan said. 

She also cautioned against believing “rumors and misinformation” on social media.

On legislative session, ‘we’ll see how it goes’ 

Leaders of the General Assembly have crafted a plan for this year’s General Assembly session that they hope will minimize the risks to lawmakers and staff. But given the uncertainty around the spread of the virus, which has pushed hospitalizations to 85% of the state’s staffed-bed capabilities, Hogan asserted it is “very likely” lawmakers will have to amend their plans. 

“We’ll have to see how it goes,” he said. “It’s very likely that they may not be able to continue it the way they’re planning currently, just like the last session when they had to shut down altogether.”

He announced that Cian Diagnostics, a Frederick firm, has contracted with LabGenomics, the South Korean firm that sold COVID-19 test kits to the state in the early weeks of the pandemic. The state quietly returned the initial batch, which were received with great fanfare, then paid $2.5 million for replacements. 

Under the new deal, Cian will purchase kits capable of conducting 1 million COVID-19 tests, the governor said. 

As of Tuesday, Maryland has used “every one” of the 500,000 tests it purchased from Korea last spring, despite what Hogan called “numerous, false, partisan attacks and a coordinated disinformation campaign.” 

By Bruce DePuyt

Critics Say Hogan Should Have Acknowledged Problems With Korean Test Kits

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One day after the state’s top health official acknowledged problems with the first COVID-19 test kits that Maryland purchased from South Korea, a chorus of critics said Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) could have headed off controversy by simply acknowledging problems with the test kits when they arose.

Instead, Democratic state lawmakers and the state’s comptroller said on Thursday that the governor’s stubborn defense of the tests created an environment of suspicion.

In testimony before the Board of Public Works on Wednesday, acting Maryland Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader said nearly all of the 500,000 tests that Seoul-based LabGenomics sold to the state for $9.5 million last spring were returned to the manufacturer unused.

The Washington Post reported on Nov. 20 that the tests could not easily be used because the instructions and materials they came with did not match those given emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

Schrader also called the tests “clunky.” 

The first batch of test kits were replaced, but only after the state forked over an additional $2.5 million. 

Although he told WBAL-TV (Channel 11) investigative reporter Jayne Miller about the swap during a phone interview in July, Hogan has vigorously rejected even the suggestion of a problem with the tests. As recently as last month he told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, “They worked great. They were using them all over the country. We were using them.”

Schrader’s comments, elicited during questioning from Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) at the Board of Public Works meeting Wednesday, were seen as undercutting the governor’s steadfast defense of a purchase he and his wife Yumi Hogan spent weeks negotiating. 

“I’m concerned about the fact that there was a lack of transparency and accountability and openness as far as describing what exactly happened to the tests,” Franchot said in an interview. 

“And I would support the legislature and other folks continuing to review and audit exactly what happened to the first batch of 500,000 tests.”

An announced candidate for governor in 2022, Franchot serves alongside Hogan and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) on the three-person Board of Public Works. 

Hogan’s purchase of the South Korean tests in April made international headlines, drew criticism from President Trump and is featured prominently in the governor’s new memoir, “Still Standing: Surviving Cancer, Riots, a Global Pandemic, and the Toxic Politics That Divide America.”

The book describes the challenges he and other governors faced battling both the pandemic and a White House whose response has been widely panned.

Franchot and the other critics who spoke out on Thursday said they had great sympathy for the panicky environment officials in Maryland and other states found themselves in as they clawed for supplies, tests and ventilators. 

But they said it would have been far better if Hogan had been more candid about the issues that arose with the first set of test kits.

The Senate’s only physician, Sen. Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard), said the administration could have “moved past” the issue “fairly quickly” if the obstacles had been disclosed in real time.

“People would have given them some leeway back in May had they had been forthright with some of the challenges they had with trying to procure these tests,” Lam said. “I think this is another case of where the coverup is worse than the crime.”  

Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), the chairman of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, said, “We’re in a period where there’s a lot of trial and error. There is no simple playbook for this. So if someone tries something and it doesn’t work, I think we have to give them some space for that.” 

But he said the whole episode has been marked by a failure to disclose important information. 

“The governor was on TV — national TV and local TV — lauding this great success of these Korean tests and how they were going to save lives — and it was a sham,” Pinsky said. 

Pinsky’s panel held a public hearing over the summer after concerns began to surface about the South Korean tests and a controversial PPE contract the state entered into with Blue Flame LLC, a newly-formed firm with ties to two Republican political operatives. 

Lawmakers were largely dissatisfied with the responses they received from the head of the Department of General Services, which handled the procurement on behalf of the Department of Health. 

But it is unclear what action, if any, legislators will take.

The Office of Legislative Audits, which is conducting a review of the emergency purchases the state has made since the pandemic began, told lawmakers this week that it too has struggled to get information from DGS and the Health department.

In a Dec. 1 letter to Pinsky and Del. Shane E. Pendergrass (D-Howard), the head of the Health and Government Operations Committee, auditor Gregory Hook said OLA “has experienced some difficulty in obtaining timely information from certain State agencies that we deem necessary for our examination.” 

Hook also said he and his staff were “somewhat taken aback” when information OLA requested about the test kits popped up in the Washington Post story. Auditors had requested the same material weeks earlier but had not received it, he wrote. 

Schrader offered a different take on Wednesday, telling the board “we’ve answered a lot of these questions in detail.”

“We’ve given them all of our records, so there’s been a full disclosure on this process,” he added.

Franchot and others also questioned why the state had to pay extra to get tests that functioned properly.

“I still am confused as to why — when a bad product was provided to us, or a product that was not as advertised — in order to swap it out, we had to pay an extra $2.5 million,” he said. 

Schrader said it was “a very legitimate question” and that he is trying to piece together what happened. 

“We were under pressure, and we were negotiating with the manufacturer, and the manufacturer was not willing to just replace the tests,” he said. “They felt they were entitled to some remuneration.” 

Lam said he had no clue what Schrader meant when he called the tests “clunky.”

“Either they work or they don’t,” he said. 

The Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. 

While Hook, the auditor, expressed hope that agency officials would step up their cooperation with his office’s review, Lam said he is concerned “the pandemic will end by the time this audit is over, and then they’ll move on. I think that’s disturbing.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Hogan Names Acting Health Secretary as Concern About COVID Hospitalizations Mounts

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Maryland’s hospital beds are filling up, as the state reported 2,765 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday morning. Twenty-one hospitals are at more than 90% capacity and 130 patients are receiving treatment in so-called “surge beds” across three temporary hospital facilities meant to avoid overcrowding.

“It’s a scary situation for everybody involved. …We think it’s going to continue to get worse over the next at least several weeks,” Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) said at a Tuesday press conference. “…Most of the educated projections say that we are not near the peak yet ― and that the worst part of this entire crisis is still ahead of us over the next month or two.”

Hogan announced a series of efforts on Tuesday aimed at alleviating burdens of health care workers, as a crush of post-Thanksgiving COVID patients are anticipated.

The 2,765 figure reported Tuesday is the third-highest daily total since the first reported case in Maryland eight months ago.

At least 4,516 Marylanders have died from the virus. The governor briefly paused during Tuesday’s press conference, choking back tears as he noted that the state recorded its youngest victim to date: a one-year-old boy.

More than 21,000 people have required hospitalization for treatment and 1,583 people were in hospital on Tuesday morning ― the highest figure since May 10. The state reported 350 COVID patients in intensive care units on Tuesday morning.

There are 6,816 Marylanders hospitalized for all illnesses; when the state reaches 8,000, hospitals will be required to expand their capacities by 10 percent within a week.

Every Maryland hospital is required to submit a surge plan to the state by Dec. 8.

“The current surge is not only increasing the burden on our healthcare system and filling available hospital beds, but it is also affecting our health care workers who are already spread thin and operating under immense strain and stress,” Hogan said.

State hospitals will need an additional 2,000 to 3,000 medical workers in the next few weeks to help alleviate round-the-clock staffing burdens. To recruit workers, the Department of Health and Maryland Hospital Association launched MarylandMedNow.com to fill temporary positions as doctors, nurses, clinical workers and support staff.

The state’s current hospital workers are already taking extra shifts and extra responsibilities, as well as sacrificing time away from their own families.

“Beds are filling up with significant numbers of patients, testing hospital surge plans, and our healthcare heroes: the nurses, doctors and other health care professionals to deliver that care in the most stressful environments,” said Dr. David Marcozzi, COVID-19 Incident Commander for the University of Maryland Medical System. “They persevere and are working extra shifts to carry the burden. That means potentially missing time at home during this holiday season. They do it for their patients, they do it to save lives. That said, those heroes are stretched thin, and we need to think innovatively on how to address potential staffing constraints.”

Hogan is also asking all Maryland colleges and universities to allow expedited graduation for students in health care fields and to develop emergency policies to award academic credit to any students who volunteer in health care during the pandemic.

Counties are being asked to deploy any available health care workers or other county employees to help staff testing and vaccination sites throughout the state.

The state is also urging hospitals and nursing homes to refocus workloads to shift non-medical duties away from nurses and licensed support staff, allowing them to focus on patient care.

New acting Health secretary

Hogan also announced Tuesday that the Maryland Department of Health’s Chief Operating Officer Dennis R. Schrader would become acting health secretary.

Tuesday marked the end of the tenure of Health Secretary Robert R. Neall, who announced in mid-November that he would retire from the Health Department after working for the administration for the last six years in various roles.

“He has been a longtime friend, trusted advisor and confidant and a dedicated public servant throughout his nearly four decades in public service ― most importantly as we went to war against this unprecedented deadly pandemic,” Hogan said, presenting Neall a governor’s citation. “We’re incredibly grateful to him for his service, and we wish him the very best in his retirement.”

Schrader, who has also been with the Hogan administration for six years, will step into the role immediately. Hogan said Schrader headed the state’s COVID testing and hospital surge efforts as chief operating officer.

Schrader was part of a confirmation battle over Hogan appointees in 2017, when the Maryland Senate refused to confirm him as Health secretary and the General Assembly ultimately passed a budget that temporarily stripped him of pay in the acting secretary position.

Hogan eventually appointed Neall to the position, ending the stalemate.

Hogan’s office did not immediately say Tuesday whether the governor intends to seek Schrader’s confirmation in the 2021 General Assembly or whether a different nominee will be put forward next year. Spokesman Michael Ricci said it was too early to discuss a timeframe on the appointment or next steps.

“Keep in mind that given Sec. Neall’s health concerns, we had to act on a compressed timeline to ensure continuity of leadership during the pandemic. Now that we have achieved that, we can look at next steps in the process,” Ricci said in an email.

Hogan also announced Tuesday that Acting Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services Dr. Jinlene Chan will lead Maryland’s vaccination acquisition and distribution efforts.

Hogan said Tuesday that the state is expected to receive a first batch of about 155,000 vaccines “relatively fast,” though that amount will cover only about half of the state’s frontline health care workers, and an even smaller portion of those Marylanders identified as priority recipients during Phase 1 of a vaccination plan.

“That’s a tiny fraction of what we need,” Hogan said. “…And so we have very difficult decisions … about the implementation and rollout of that plan.”

Going forward, Marcozzi will become the state’s senior medical adviser on COVID-19.

Marcozzi on Tuesday encouraged Marylanders to stay vigilant in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

“I do understand, we all just want to take one day off from COVID-19. Especially during the holidays. Unfortunately, the virus doesn’t take a day off,” Marcozzi said.

He also encouraged people to continue getting regular medical care to avoid exacerbating other medical conditions.

“Many providers have the ability to see you either by phone through a telemedicine application or in their office safely,” Marcozzi said. “We all need to stay physically ― and mentally ― healthy, particularly during this holiday season.”

By Danielle E. Gaines

Citing COVID Surge, Hogan Announces ‘Wide-Scale’ Police Enforcement Efforts Over Holiday

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Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) is cracking down on individuals and businesses who don’t follow public health orders as COVID-19 surges in Maryland, and announced Monday that state police will launch a “wide-scale” enforcement operation as Thanksgiving approaches.

At a Monday afternoon press conference, Hogan said he’s deploying additional state troopers in all of Maryland’s counties and the city of Baltimore to enforce public health mandates. He said the state troopers will deploy “high visibility compliance units” in popular downtown areas across the state ― including Baltimore, Bel Air, Towson, Salisbury and Silver Spring― to keep an eye on crowds and social distancing.

He noted that Thanksgiving is a time when many travel home and traditionally head to bars with friends and families, but described pub-crawling during the pandemic as “reckless.”

State troopers will step up enforcement efforts on Wednesday and Thursday in addition to their normal push to combat drunk driving during the holiday, although they will also help local governments with pandemic-related enforcement going forward.

Hogan’s announcement came less than a week after he issued a slew of restrictions in response to the massive surge of coronavirus cases. Those restrictions include limiting the hours for indoor dining and reducing capacity for many indoor businesses to 50%.

He believes the vast majority of Marylanders are following public health guidelines, masking up in public and avoiding large gatherings, but warned that a few lax businesses or individuals could worsen the pandemic for everyone.

Hogan slammed businesses and residents who don’t comply with public health orders, charging that they are putting their entire communities at risk by flouting masks and having large gatherings.

“We can’t let a few bad actors spoil it for the others who’ve been doing such a great job,” Hogan said. “We cannot afford all the progress that we’ve made together against this virus.”

While the state has an additional 6,000 hospital beds as part of its surge plan, Hogan warned that some hospitals in Western Maryland are already at capacity.

An additional 29 hospitals are nearing their capacity, Hogan said, although the Department of Health has issued an order allowing hospitals nearing their full capacity to transfer patients to hospitals with vacancies.

The state has seen 19 straight days with more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19, with another 1,658 new cases in a 24-hour period as of Monday afternoon. The state’s 7-day positivity rate was 6.88% as of Monday, Hogan said.

Maryland reported an additional 14 confirmed COVID-19 deaths Monday morning, bringing the total since March to 4,293.

Hogan was joined by Baltimore County Executive John “Johnny O” Olszewski, Jr (D), who said he plans on using his full authority to crack down on compliance around Thanksgiving. He warned that anyone found in violation of state or local health orders will face consequences.

“These rules are in place to save lives,” Olszewski said. “If you are found violating them, you will be held accountable.”

Baltimore County’s social distancing task force has conducted thousands of inspections during the pandemic, Olszewski said, and has found more than 300 violations. He said county officials have cited and even shut down businesses that don’t comply with health orders.

Maryland State Police are operating a 24-hour hotline for residents to report health order violations, Hogan said. Marylanders can report potential violations to (833) 979-2266 or send an email to Prevent.Covid@maryland.gov.

By Bennett Leckrone

As Md. Moves Into Its Second COVID-19 Surge, Hogan Lays Out A Slew Of Emergency Actions

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Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) issued a series of COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday afternoon, following the state’s quick entry into the pandemic’s second surge.

“This virus has been with us for so long that too many of us have become numb to the staggering, spiking numbers that are being announced every day,” Hogan said at a Tuesday news conference. “It does not matter how well we have done for all these months. If we falter now and if we fail to take this seriously, we will look just like all those other states and this deadly virus will strengthen its grip on our state and our nation.”

Effective 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20, every establishment that serves food and alcohol, including bars and restaurants, will be unable to perform indoor dining services from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Bars must continue to prohibit standing and crowding. Restaurant and bar patrons are still required to stand six feet apart, and no more than six people may be seated together at a table.

Carryout food and alcoholic beverage services are still permitted.

“This order carries the full force of the law and it will be enforced,” Hogan asserted.

Also effective Friday at 5 p.m., all retail businesses, religious institutions, bingo halls, bowling alleys, roller and ice skating rinks, fitness centers, pool halls and social clubs will only be allowed to function at 50% capacity. Masks, sanitization and distancing guidelines are to be enforced.

Additionally, sports fans will no longer be allowed to sit in the stands at racetracks or collegiate and professional stadiums.

Hogan stressed that the state’s mask mandate remains “in full force and effect” at all public indoor facilities including grocery stores, pharmacies, gyms, retail establishments, in public places of public and private businesses and on public transportation.

“This very simple step of wearing masks continues to be the single best mitigation strategy that we have to fight the virus,” he said. “This is not a political issue ― it’s not a limitation on your right to infect other people ― but it is the best way to keep you and your family members safe, to keep people out of the hospital and to save lives.”

‘We are in a war right now’

“The sad reality is that all across America, more people are getting infected with COVID-19,” said Hogan.

And Maryland is no exception.

According to the governor, the state has consistently seen over 1,000 newly confirmed cases in the last 13 days, with this past Saturday documenting the most confirmed cases ever seen in one day. Maryland’s seven-day positivity rate has shot up to 6.85% ― well over a 5% warning threshold ― and 20 of the state’s 24 jurisdictions have followed that trend.

Hospitalizations are on the rise, too.

Tuesday, the state saw 1,046 people hospitalized for the virus, 255 of which are in the ICU. That is the highest hospitalization rate since June 7.

Nearly 20 hospitals across the state have reached over 90% capacity. Hospitals in western Maryland have already reached their full capacity.

“Even with the additional 6,000 beds that we provided for in our hospital surge plan, Maryland hospitals are now reaching capacity,” the governor said. “All of this requires additional, immediate actions to prevent the over-burdening of our healthcare system and to stop more Marylanders from dying.”

To protect healthcare workers and slow the spread, the Maryland Department of Health issued an emergency order Tuesday barring hospital visitors except for the parents or guardians of minors, those in compassionate care, obstetric services and supporters of people with disabilities. The agency has also advised hospitals to avoid performing non-urgent or elective surgeries if possible.

Additionally, the Department of Health has issued an order allowing hospitals nearing or at their full capacity to transfer patients to hospitals with vacancies and appropriate resources.

Dr. Tom Scalea, physician and chief of shock trauma at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said at the Tuesday news conference that hospitals who needed to go “critical care bed shopping” generally looked inward at their own hospital systems for help, “ignoring available beds that maybe exist actually relatively close to them.”

“Now a single phone call will give them access to the appropriate level of critical care services,” he explained. “This is, of course, based on a principle that everybody’s going to cooperate [and] play ball.”

“I’m sure that will be the case.”

In an effort to protect more vulnerable populations, Hogan has restricted visitation to nursing homes. Indoor visits will now only be allowed for compassionate care patients, and all visitors must provide documentation of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their visit.

“I realize this is very difficult, especially at this time of year,” Hogan explained, “but please know that by refraining from visits at this time, you are helping keep them safe and to save the lives of our most vulnerable.”

Additionally, the Department of Health will begin to require nursing home staff to be tested twice a week. Residents will be tested once a week.

Pensively, Hogan recalled a press conference early on in the pandemic when he announced the state’s first COVID-19 related death.

“I’ll never forget back on March 19, when it was my sad duty to report the very first coronavirus death in our state,” he remembered.

Now Maryland reports 4,186 deaths ― 26 of which occurred on Monday, alone.

“That’s more than one [person] dying every hour in Maryland,” said the governor, adding that more Marylanders have died of COVID-19 this year than one year’s worth of people lost to “car accidents, gun violence and the flu combined.”

Hogan addressed members of the public who may choose not to believe reports from news outlets or the Department of Health about the gravity of the pandemic.

“Regardless of all the disinformation that’s being spread all over social media, this is not the flu,” he said. “It’s not fake news. It’s not going to magically disappear just because we’re all tired of it and we want our normal lives back.”

“We are in a war right now, and the virus is winning.”

By Hannah Gaskill

As COVID-19 Cases Spike, Hogan Provides More Economic Aid

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As the coronavirus continues to surge across the nation, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) dispensed more federal money to boost the state’s emergency response to the virus.

“The sad truth is that the next several months will likely be by far, the most difficult that we have faced,” Hogan said in a State House news conference late Thursday afternoon. “Unfortunately we have more tough times ahead of us, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

On Thursday, the state reported a positivity rate of 5.65%, the highest it’s been since May 27, as well as an additional 1,477 cases over past 24 hours. For nine days in a row, the state has reported over 1,000 new daily cases.

Maryland is currently in the “red zone” for COVID-19 cases as designated by the federal government, along with many other states, Hogan said. The average number of cases per 100,000 residents has risen to 22.8, which is a 52% increase in just the last seven days.

On Sunday, Maryland’s coronavirus positivity rate passed the 5% benchmark, a metric set by the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization to track the spread of COVID-19, for the first time since June 25, and has only increased since then.

Half of Maryland’s jurisdictions have positivity rates higher than this benchmark: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, Somerset and Washington.

In response to the recent spike in cases, Hogan announced an additional $70 million in state spending through the federal CARES Act:

  • $20 million for a strategic stockpile of personal protective equipment; Maryland currently has a 90-day supply, Hogan said.
  • $15 million for more staffing support in call centers, customer service and fraud detection programming in the Maryland Department of Labor
  • $10 million for rental assistance for low-income tenants
  • $10 million for vaccination planning and equipment, such as syringes
  • $10 million for food banks
  • $2 million for the Maryland Department of Human Services for foster care assistance
  • $2 million to the Maryland Department of Human Services for food (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and energy assistance
  • $1 million to sample wastewater to test for coronavirus outbreaks in vulnerable communities

Hogan urged the counties to spend their remaining CARES Act funding as soon as possible, emphasizing that the money would be forfeited if not spent by the end of the year. “We have a desperate need right now,” Hogan said.

Hospitalizations due to the coronavirus increased by 53% in the last two weeks, with 863 patients currently hospitalized in Maryland, which is the highest level since June 11. Meanwhile, 199 patients are in intensive care units in Maryland.

The number of COVID-19 related hospitalizations in the nation surged to its highest to over 65,000 patients on Wednesday.

“We are experiencing an out of control spike across the United States and we are seeing widespread community transmission here in Maryland,” Hogan said.

Even so, Dr. Jinlene Chan, deputy secretary of public health services for the Department of Health, and Hogan said the state’s health metrics for reopening schools have not changed.

“It [school reopening decisions] ultimately is the decision of the local school board in conjunction with the local health department,” Chan said. She encouraged school districts to balance the needs of education and mental health for children.

As funding from the Paycheck Protection Program and CARES Act trickles out, Hogan blamed Congress for its inability to reach a compromise on the next COVID-19 stimulus package.

“We’re very, very concerned with the continued gridlock, divisiveness and dysfunction in Washington, while people’s lives are at stake and people’s economic lives and their mental health,” Hogan said.

As “people in the White House are focused on fighting elections and the people in the Biden administration don’t have any information…there’s a little bit of a vacuum right now,” Hogan said.

In the spring, the state had to rent an ice rink as funeral homes and morgues became overloaded with people who had died from COVID-19, Hogan recalled. “We do not want to be in that situation again,” he said.

On Tuesday, Hogan reduced dine-in capacity for bars and restaurants from 75% to 50%, advised against traveling to states with a positivity rate above 10% and encouraged telework.

He said his goal is to keep as much of the economy open as possible, but so is preventing the hospitals from overflowing. “Might we have to take more restrictive action over the coming weeks or months? Absolutely, we might,” Hogan said.

By Elizabeth Shwe

As COVID Cases Rise Into ‘Danger Zone,’ Hogan Tightens Restrictions

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As the number of Marylanders with COVID-19 continues to rise and the state crossed warning thresholds set by the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) reduced dine-in capacity for bars and restaurants, issued new guidance to avoid out-of-state travel, encouraged telework and asserted that a coronavirus surge could be in Maryland’s future.

Maryland has had seven straight days with more than 1,000 new cases. The state has crossed over into a “danger zone,” Hogan said.

“Too many residents and businesses have COVID fatigue, and they began letting their guard down. Too many Marylanders are traveling out of state to unsafe locations, hosting large gatherings, crowding in bars, attending house parties, and refusing to wear masks. Too many businesses are failing to comply with the state regulations and orders. And counties with the primary responsibility for ensuring compliance of the law and enforcing public health regulations are in some cases failing to do so,” Hogan said during a State House news conference Tuesday evening. “Sadly, as a result, the virus has returned to our state in a big way.”

On Monday, for the first time since June 25, Maryland’s 7-day statewide positive COVID-19 test rate crossed over a 5% benchmark ― one of several metrics that can be used to monitor the spread of COVID ― set by the CDC and WHO.

Ten Maryland counties and the city of Baltimore had positive test rates above that benchmark on Tuesday. The counties are: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Charles, Dorchester, Garrett, Harford, Queen Anne’s, Somerset and Washington.

Several jurisdictions are also in the federal government’s “red zone” for COVID-19 case rates. There are more than 20 cases per 100,000 residents in seven jurisdictions: the city of Baltimore and Allegany, Washington, Baltimore, Harford, Anne Arundel and Somerset counties.

On Tuesday morning, the state reported 1,338 new COVID-19 cases. At least 761 Marylanders ― an increase of 54 people since Monday ― were hospitalized, including 176 patients in intensive care. Nationwide, coronavirus hospitalizations surged to a record high on Monday with more than 59,000 patients.

The state reported 12 deaths on Tuesday morning. At least 4,084 Marylanders have died from the virus since March.

Through executive order and directives, the Hogan administration on Tuesday re-imposed or reinforced public health restrictions in an effort to curtail an ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases:

  • Effective Wednesday at 5 p.m., the capacity for indoor operations at bars and restaurants will be reduced to 50%, with service only for customers who are seated and socially distanced, plus other precautions.
  • The health department issued a new public health advisory strongly warning against any indoor gatherings of 25 people or more.
  • The health department expanded an advisory against all out-of-state travel. Marylanders are strongly advised to avoid all nonessential travel to any state with a positivity rate above 10% or an average case rate of 20 cases per 100,000 residents. Thirty-five states have a case rate over 20, and eight states have a positivity rate over 10%.
  • Effective immediately, all state employees who are approved to telework must once again do so. Private employers are encouraged to increase telework and do everything possible to increase distancing among employees who must be physically present.
  • The state health department is also activating the next level of planning to increase hospital surge capacity by adding space in temporary hospital facilities and providing additional staffing support to nursing homes.
  • New guidance from the health department says that all visitors to nursing homes should be tested for the virus, that gatherings should be avoided and that nursing homes should create stockpiles of protective equipment.

Hogan said contact tracing data continues to show that gatherings of family and friends are the most common source of viral spread, with increasing numbers of newly infected Marylanders indicating they recently ate in a restaurant or work outside of the home.

Hogan did not move back from “Phase 3” in the state’s recovery plan, which allows all businesses to be open with some restrictions. For now, the additional steps and stronger enforcement of existing precautions reflect the state’s infection and contact tracing data, but more restrictions could become necessary if cases continue to rise, Hogan said.

“We do not want to take actions that will further burden our struggling small businesses, or actions to shut down our economy,” Hogan said. “Our primary goals continue to be keeping our hospitals from overflowing and stopping more Marylanders from dying.”

Counties are able to move more slowly in the reopening plan, based on local conditions, and some have.

Over the weekend, the leaders from Maryland’s six largest jurisdictions sent Hogan a letter urging a statewide tightening of restrictions.

“Our residents do not live their lives confined within the borders of our counties – so our efforts to contain this deadly virus should not either,” the leaders wrote. “We want to partner with you in the effort to crush the curve and beat this virus.”

But, the leaders wrote that as recently as Oct. 22, Hogan criticized them for not moving forward with lifting Phase 3 restrictions and that he had not participated in a statewide conference call with county leaders in 169 days.

At the press conference, Hogan said the same county leaders had not raised their concerns during meetings held every-other-week with his state leadership team. And Hogan noted that some of those leaders, all Democrats, have higher political ambitions.

Hogan also said that it is the counties that need to do more to help curb the spread, including by more strictly enforcing capacity limits at bars and restaurants.

Some jurisdictions have recently implemented stronger precautions, including Montgomery and Allegany counties and the city of Baltimore.

Cases in the rural Allegany County are escalating at a rate that is nearly three times the state average. A state testing site will begin operating in the county on Wednesday.

The Allegany County Board of County Commissioners announced that they would impose additional restrictions, including reducing capacity of bars, restaurants, fitness and recreation centers and other retail businesses to 50 percent. The county office building will be accessible by appointment only.

In Baltimore City, Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young moved the city back into Phase 1, the most restrictive phase of  economic closures after case rates and positive test rates in the city more than doubled in the past two weeks.

Statewide, there have been two peaks in COVID cases so far ― on April 30, when there were 1,711 hospitalizations, and on Aug. 1, when there were 592 hospitalizations.

A third rise began in mid-October.

Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. (D) issued a statement in response to Hogan’s press conference saying that “statewide solutions remain the most effective public health actions” and that the county will follow metrics to determine if any additional actions are needed.

Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) tweeted that he strongly supported the plan to reimpose public health measures to stop the spread.

“Virus increasing too quickly. All of us must take action to keep all of us safe,” Ferguson tweeted. “Our regular reminder ― public health = economic health.”

During the Tuesday press conference, Hogan also confirmed that Maryland Department of Health Secretary Robert R. Neall will retire from state government, effective Dec. 1.

Hogan described Neall as “a long-time friend for decades and who’s done an incredible job leading a wonderful team of people throughout this crisis.”

The retirement was announced at an emergency cabinet meeting Tuesday. Hogan said he could offer no further details Tuesday evening.

Fran Phillips, the state’s longtime public health chief, retired during the summer.

By Danielle E. Gaines

Hogan Sees Silver Linings in National Election Results

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Even as former vice president Joe Biden inches closer to victory in the cliffhanger presidential contest, Maryland Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) ― who wrote in Ronald Reagan on his presidential ballot ― sees silver linings in this week’s election results.

“There’s no question it was a pretty good night for Republican candidates up and down the ballot,” Hogan said during a webinar Wednesday with Washington Post national political reporter Robert Costa.

Symbolically sporting a purple tie, Hogan declined to say whether he thought a potential Trump defeat would be good for the Republican Party. But he did note that “common sense conservatives” ― most of them unaffiliated with Trump ― outperformed the president just about everywhere on Tuesday.

Hogan endorsed six Republicans this fall ― Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, three members of the House of Representatives, and a House challenger ― and all but one, the challenger, New Jersey state Sen. Tom Kean Jr., prevailed.

All are center-right Republicans who, like Hogan, appeal to women, minorities and suburban voters far more than Trump. Hogan pointed out that he has outperformed Trump by “45 points” in Maryland ― a reference to the president’s 30-point deficit to Biden in the Free State, along with Hogan’s 13-point re-election victory in 2018.

Hogan has been the rare Republican officeholder willing (and sometimes even eager) to criticize Trump. Hogan frequently rails against ideological extremists in both political parties, and suggests voters are sick of Washington, D.C., insiders and believe political leaders ought to emphasize compromise over confrontation.

Responding to a question by Costa, Hogan was sharply critical of Trump’s televised address to the nation at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, in which he declared victory in the White House contest but suggested that fraudsters were trying to take it away.

“I thought it was outrageous and uncalled for and a terrible mistake,” Hogan said.

He added that every ballot needs to be counted and that Americans need to be patient before drawing conclusions about the election results.

Asked what he would say to a President-Elect Biden if they had a brief conversation about the COVID-19 pandemic, Hogan said he would counsel Biden to resist pressure from the progressive wing of his party during policy debates. Pressed about specific advice on addressing COVID-19, Hogan said he would urge Biden to work with Congress on a deal on relief funding as quickly as possible and would urge him to expedite development of a coronavirus vaccine.

“I’m afraid we’ve still got many months ahead in this tremendous struggle, both on the public health side and the economic side,” he said.

Asked whether he had any interest in running for president in 2024, Hogan demurred, saying it was premature to talk about 2024 when the 2020 election hasn’t been resolved yet ― and that he wanted to “stayed focused on the day job.”

But pressed by Costa, Hogan asserted that win or lose, Trump would continue to wield enormous influence over the GOP, but that other voices and points of view should be welcomed into the conversation about the future of the party.

Hogan predicted that while there will be 15 Republican candidates for president in 2024 “who want to become the next Donald Trump,” there would be a far smaller “common sense lane” whose candidates would appeal to many voters.

“I think looking to a common sense governor is not such a far-fetched idea,” he said.

By Josh Kurtz