Hogan: Maryland Acquires 500K COVID-19 Tests From Labs in South Korea

ANNAPOLIS (CBS/WBOC)- Maryland received thousands of COVID-19 test kits from South Korea after Gov. Larry Hogan and his wife, First Lady Yumi Hogan, secured a deal with a laboratory there.

Hogan announced at a Monday afternoon press conference that the state has secured half a million coronavirus tests from LabGenomics in South Korea. The tests cost approximately $9 million, according to the governor, who said if if they help save lives and help get the economy back on track, they will be a "worthwhile investment."

Hogan said he and the First Lady received the test kits Saturday at BWI. A Korean Air Boeing 777 arrived without passengers but instead with 500,000 test kits, giving Maryland the capability of increasing testing.

The New York Times first reported that the tests came after Hogan and his wife, “a Korean immigrant who speaks fluent Korean” helped secure the final deal with two labs to sell Maryland the tests.

"Each part of this international collaboration was unprecedented," the governor said. "It literally will help save the lives of thousands of Marylanders."

According to Hogan, having the ability to administer enough tests is one of the four critical building blocks of the "Maryland Strong Roadmap to Recovery."

So far, about 71,000 coronavirus tests have been administered in the state. But Hogan said he hopes to be aggressive and get 20,000 tests administered a day.  

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot said he salutes Hogan for his “continued strong and steady leadership, and to our extraordinary First Lady, Yumi Hogan, for her intervention and involvement in securing these much-needed and life-saving test kits.

"The widespread use of testing conducted by the South Korean government has been cited as a chief catalyst for the sharp decline of infections in that country," Franchot said. "Given the absence of a strong federal coordinated response, states have had to fill the void of national leadership. Fortunately here in Maryland, we have a governor who is relentless in fighting for the resources that we need to combat this pandemic effectively and to protect our citizens."

Another significant development Monday was the Maryland Office of Legal Counsel's revised interpretive guidance regarding barbershops and salons. While they are generally closed, the OLC recommends that enforcement action not be taken against barbers/salons that provide services to employees (“Customers”) of businesses and organizations that are not required by the order to close (“Employers”), provided that they meet several conditions, including only being allowed to provide services on an appointment-basis only (no walk-ins) and allowing one customer inside the business at a time. The complete list of requirements can be read here.

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COVID-19 Statistics in Maryland

Number of confirmed cases: 13,684

Number of negative test results: 57,713

Number of deaths: 516

Number of probable deaths: 66

Hospitalizations: 3,014 ever hospitalized

Released from isolation: 917

Cases and Deaths Data Breakdown

Parenthesis = Confirmed death, laboratory-confirmed positive COVID-19 test result 

Asterisk = Probable death, death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause of death but not yet confirmed by a laboratory test

NH = Non-Hispanic

By County

By Age Range and Gender

By Race and Ethnicity