SALISBURY, Md. - Tuesday afternoon, Marylanders saw Gov. Hogan virtually for the first time since he tested positive for COVID.
Gov. Hogan says he is now quarantining at home and working on a speedy recovery from COVID-19.
"I appreciate all the well wishes I want you to know that I'm doing fine and currently only experiencing some cold-like symptoms," said Gov. Hogan.
At the same time, Maryland is seeing a surge in cases and hospital beds are filling up quickly.
"Our COVID positivity rate is now 11.6 percent," explained Gov. Hogan.
This comes after Maryland announced its adult vaccination rate stand at 91 percent. But clearly, it's not enough.
"That remaining 9 percent is responsible for more than 75 percent of our COVID-19 hospitalizations," said Gov. Hogan.
The surge in cases are also being felt locally.
"We're almost up to 60 patients in the hospital," said Dr. Chris Snyder with TidalHealth.
He adds that this is a direct result of not enough people being vaccinated, as Wicomico county stands at 50 percent.
"I don't think that's a good number, honestly. We need to be at 85 or better per CDC guidelines. The vaccinated (population) is the least amount of patients in the hospital, most of those patients don't get sick so they don't need to come and see us," added Dr. Snyder.
Governor Hogan announced various emergency funding some include:
-100 million dollars in emergency funding to address urgent staffing needs at Maryland hospitals and nursing homes
-50 million dollars for hospitals and nursing homes to expand testing treatments and vaccines
-30 million dollars for school systems to purchase more tests
-making half a million at home rapid tests available across the state through local health departments
Dr. Snyder says antigen tests are reliable, recommending that those eligible get tested and vaccinated before seeing family for the holidays.
Governor Hogan's office tells WRDE he is receiving monoclonal antibodies as a precaution and will continue to work from home.
If you or someone you know still needs to get vaccinated visit covidvax.maryland.gov
