By Andrew Palm and Jordan Smith
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday accepted President Trump’s offer to utilize federal labs in Maryland for COVID-19 testing.
The move was made official when the governor wrote a letter thanking the president for his cooperation. The letter also served as an olive branch to Trump who harshly criticized Hogan on Monday for purchasing 500,000 testing kits from South Korea.
“Maryland is fortunate to have a plethora of federal installations with the potential to play a critical role in increasing our testing capacity,” Hogan wrote, listing key sites including Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fort Detrick, Fort Meade, the National Institutes of Health, and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
On March 15, Hogan was joined by Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in requesting use of the facilities. They insisted that the National Capital region be considered the priority locations for federally supported COVID-19 testing sites. The location was “well-positioned to make the best possible use of federal support for this testing,” they said.
Uncertain about the status of the request, Hogan, alongside First Lady Yumi Hogan, announced on Monday that Maryland has acquired 500,000 COVID-19 tests from the South Korean company LabGenomics. Described as Operation Enduring Friendship, Hogan said at a press conference he and his team had been working with South Korea confidentially since March 28.
The governor and the first lady made a personal plea to South Korea’s ambassador to the U.S. The request was followed by a 22-day long vetting and negotiation period.
Irked by the purchase, President Trump said at his daily coronavirus press conference at the White House Monday evening that Hogan’s effort was unnecessary. Vice President Mike Pence added that the National Institutes of Health and Defense Department facilities in Maryland were at the state’s disposal to increase testing capacity.
“I don’t think he needed to go to South Korea. I think he needed to get a little knowledge — would have been helpful,” Trump said.
A Korean Air flight carrying 5,000 test kits from South Korea landed at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Saturday.
Hogan said on Tuesday that the opening of the federal labs will help utilize the 500,000 South Korean tests.
“These federal labs can be key to our utilizing the 500,000 tests we recently acquired from South Korea and our comprehensive recovery plan to get Marylanders back to work as safely and quickly as possible,” he wrote in the letter.
The deal with South Korea earned Hogan praise from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who praised Hogan for “thinking outside the box.” Cuomo criticized the federal government for putting Hogan in the position to make such a move. Cuomo said it was the federal government’s place to do these kinds of negotiations.
Cuomo and Hogan both work together for the National Governors Association. Hogan is the chairman, while Cuomo serves under him as Vice Chair.
Hogan on the ABC morning talk show “The View” discussed the recent comments made by Trump. He told host Whoopie Goldberg that he was “taken aback” by the president’s comments, and that he had a good conversation with Pence and the coronavirus task force earlier that week. Hogan said he had “no idea why” the president made those comments.
Hogan spoke critically of the president’s support for those who have been protesting to re-open the economy. The Maryland governor said he feels the “mixed messaging” does not help the country’s current predicament.
The Maryland governor appeared proud of the acquisition of the testing kits and described the scene at the airport.
“The first lady and I stood on the tarmac at BWI Airport to welcome the first-ever Korean Air passenger plane, a Boeing 777, which had no passengers, but which was carrying a very important payload,” Hogan said.
After the tests have passed the acceptable standards in two local labs, they will then be distributed to testing centers that have been set up by the state.
The federal government has purchased tests from South Korea as well, but Maryland is the first state to have a sale brokered from the country. Hogan said the tests will cost the state about $9 million.
More than 500 Maryland residents have died from COVID-19. Health officials said more than 70,000 tests have been conducted for the virus, with the numbers still rising. Officials said that there are nearly 14,000 infections recorded.
Hogan said that Maryland, like other states, had limited testing to only those who were health care workers or sick. The new tests are expanding to high-priority areas such as nursing and group homes, he said.
The governor said that he is still looking for ways to boost the state’s testing abilities.
“We’ve ramped up our labs, we’re continuing to ramp up the lab capability.” Hogan said, “10,000 was a very aggressive goal — but I think I’m going to try to blow through that and do maybe a 200% of what their aggressive goal was and try to get up to 20,000 tests a day.”
Hogan said that the key to reopening Maryland will be the expanded testing but stressed he did not want to open parts of the state piece by piece.
Hogan said he will announce a plan for recovery called “Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery” later this week.