GOVERNOR HOGAN: Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you very much for joining us this afternoon. It’s great to see so many smiling faces. I think it’s the first time we were able to have a full press conference with everybody since last March, so it’s wonderful to see all of you. Thank you for joining us today on this beautiful day in the state of Maryland.
With me today are two folks who are no strangers to you. Two of our great team leaders, our health Secretary Dennis Schrader and Dr. Jinlene Chan, who has done such a great job as our Deputy Secretary for public health.
It has been one year, three months, and ten days since we confirmed the first cases of COVID-19 and declared a state of emergency in the state of Maryland. Every single day since that day last March, together we have faced immense and unprecedented challenges. And throughout this long, hard fought battle against the worst global pandemic in more than a century, not a single day has gone by that I haven’t been inspired by the will, the strength, and the resilience of the people of Maryland. We’ve been through so much over the past 15 months, but just look at how far we’ve come together to reach this hopeful point. We hoped closed hospitals, built field hospitals that expanded our hospital surge capacity by 6,000 beds, we procured tens of millions of units of PPE, and deployed thousands of contact tracers across the state. We built an entire testing infrastructure from scratch, going from just 50 COVID tests per day to now surpassing 10,000,600 COVID-19 tests. We built a massive vaccine infrastructure from scratch, deploying a team of more than 11,400 people and opening over 3,000 points of distribution, to provide every single eligible Marylander with access to vaccines.
The state of Maryland has now administered more than 6.5 million COVID-19 vaccines, not only meeting but exceeding our goal of reaching 70% of all adults vaccinated by Memorial Day. More than 72% of all Marylanders 18 years and older and nearly 90% of all Marylanders over the age of 65 have been vaccinated. That’s a faster rate than the nation and faster than most other states in the country. And as the number of vaccinated Marylanders continues to grow, the number of infections continues to fall. Every day now we are seeing amazing declines in all of our health metrics across the board and across the state. In January, our positivity rate was just under 6%, and today it’s under 1%, at 0.82%. The lowest since the pandemic began and lower than 43 other states.
In January our case rate per hundred thousand was 53.39, and today it’s down to 1.57, the lowest since the very first days of the pandemic and the second lowest in America. In January COVID hospitalizations in the state reached nearly 2,000, and today hospitalizations are again below 200, the lowest level since March of 2020.
With all of this amazing progress and thanks in large part to the hard work, the sacrifices, and the vigilance of the people of Maryland, we have finally reached the light at the end of that long tunnel. Today I am announcing the end of the COVID-19 state of emergency in Maryland. On Thursday, July 1st, any and all emergency restrictions and mandates of any kind will end. Masks or face coverings will not be required in any settings anywhere, including schools, camps, and childcare facilities. Businesses and other workplaces are obviously still able to set their own policies and we’ll support their ability to do so, but there will not be any legal mandate from the state for wearing masks at any location anywhere in the state.
July 1st we’ll also begin a 45-day grace period, through August 15, where certain regulations will continue to be relaxed to help people complete the transition out of the pandemic. Just includes an additional 45 days to renew your expired driver’s license, and if you have not yet made an appointment to do that, you should take care of that as soon as possible. We’re also granting an additional extension of the moratorium on evictions related to COVID-19 through August 15. And health officials will have that 45-day period to transition from emergency operations.
While the end of the state of emergency is an important step in our recovery from COVID-19, it does not mean that this virus and the variants no longer pose any threat. If you have been vaccinated, you are safe. But those who have not gotten vaccinated will continue to be at risk.
At this point there’s simply no excuse for not getting vaccinated. The vaccines are safe, effective, and readily available everywhere. Our go vax summer tour will be continuing. This weekend, Father’s Day weekend, we are partnering with the Orioles and Major League Baseball. The vaccination clinics will be at Camden Yards.
We are also reached the midway point of our $2 million vax cash lottery promotion. 22 people have already won $40,000 each, and you still have your chance. Once again, any Maryland resident age 18 and older, is automatically eligible to win $40,000 each day and then has a shot at the grand prize of $400,000, which will be chosen on the 4th of July.
Throughout last winter, when we were still in the thick of our fight against this deadly virus, I would often remind Marylanders how much we were all looking forward to the day when we could take off and throw away our masks, when we could get all our children back into school, and when we could go out for a big celebration at a crowded restaurant or bar with our family and friends. I said then that getting our state vaccinated was the only way to get us back to that sense of normalcy. As they have time and time again throughout this crisis, Marylanders rose to that challenge. Now we are gathering with loved ones that celebrate birthdays and graduations. We’re spending time with and hugging grandparents, having nights out with friends, going to ball games, and we’re getting back to work, with 12 consecutive months of job growth and one of the best economic recoveries in America. It is truly a time for celebration, but I ask that you take a moment to remember those 9,472 lives that we lost, and that we give thanks for the healthcare heroes who saved so many other lives and the citizen soldiers of the Maryland National Guard who answered the call. And remember more than anything that each and every one of you, by your actions, has made this day possible. I’m so proud of our state, and I’m grateful to have had this honor to serve as your Governor.
Thank you all for being Maryland Strong.
With that, I’ll be happy to take a few questions.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: It does not affect our access.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, again, I want to make sure that I stress that it’s not mission accomplished. The battle is not over. We’re transitioning from a state of emergency to an ongoing operation. I can tell you that our hospital, our Health Department, everyone is going to continue to try to wind this down over the next several months, and our efforts continue. But it is a very hopeful point, and the 15 months and 10 days, I can tell you, it’s been our primary focus every single day, the whole day, an all-government approach to tackling this crisis. And it’s great to be able to move it into at least now an important operation rather than the thing that consumes all of our time and effort. But I take my hat off to all the people on our team, in the Governor’s office, at the Department of Health, National Guard, MEMA, every single one across state government, local partners, private sector, and all the people that stepped up. This is an incredible day, and there were days I wasn’t sure we would ever get here. So it’s a little emotional to be at this point.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Yeah, we’re very good in almost every statistic. I said we have the second lowest in America on cases per hundred thousand. I think we have the fourth lowest positivity rate. We’re the seventh best in a couple of other categories. So we’re in the top 10 I believe in every point of measurement. So I’m very pleased with that.
We’re also, on the number of people vaccinated, I think we’re fourth highest in the country, and I think that has to do with all the other metrics. There are some states — the federal government is now saying they may not reach their goal of 70% receiving first vaccine by July 4th, but we reached it in May. I know there are a bunch of states that won’t even get close to that and are at 50%. Our team did an amazing job and the people of Maryland took it a lot more seriously than some of the other folks.
Pam?
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: The catastrophic health emergency does not exist and certain county governments may have their own authorities. I am not an expert on that. Some will not.
SPEAKER: The infrastructure you’ve been using, will that be used ahead, with regard to booster shots and things?
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Maybe I’ll let Dr. Chan talk about that, but absolutely. The things we’ve already set up, we’re already having discussions, talk about how our existing infrastructure will help us with booster shots if they’re necessary in the fall and our flu vaccine effort, which is going to be more critical than ever. We’re expecting a really bad flu season because last year everybody was wearing masks, so both COVID and the flu didn’t get transmitted. I think after a 2-year gap, it’s coming back with the vengeance, right, but I’ll let Dr. Chan talk.
JINLENE CHAN: Yes, absolutely. As the Governor indicated, all of the infrastructure we’ve built up, pharmacies, local providers, local Health Departments, hospitals and others will absolutely serve not only for boosters but also for our flu vaccine campaign which is planned for the fall.
SPEAKER: Are you able at this point to say that there will be no new hospitalizations or new cases of unvaccinated people?
JINLENE CHAN: We’re looking very closely at that. We’re looking at some of the numbers even in May. The vast majority of the people who were getting admitted to hospitals were unvaccinated in the range of 80% or so. So we’re taking a closer look at that, though.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
JINLENE CHAN: Correct, correct. We continue to say vaccines are effective and that even though our hospitalization rates are low, I think today we had about 65 people in ICU beds around Maryland. The people who are getting sick and certainly the sickest are those primarily who remain unvaccinated, so we encourage everyone to get vaccinated.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, it was a disturbing video. I watched it yesterday as soon as it was hitting the atmosphere. We reached out, had conversations with both the mayor of Ocean City and our state police, have reached out to Ocean City police, and you know, I believe that we’re just anxious to get the initial investigation conducted so we can have all the facts before making any further statements about it.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, you know, I’ve spoken out on this before. You know, we really need leaders of Baltimore City to step up and take some new actions. What they’ve been doing obviously is not working well. We’ve had numerous discussions with them. We’ve invested more than a billion dollars in public safety in the city. We’ve provided the assistance of state police and our four other state agencies. It really comes down to the folks in Baltimore City are going to have to do something about the crime, particularly the violent crime in the city. And we have to start enforcing the law. We’re going to have to arrest people who violate the law. And we’re going to have to prosecute them and take violent shooters off the street. So far that’s not something that the city has been willing to do.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: We talk to them every single day. State police is in communication with them. They know very well what we think they need to do. They I think have a different plan.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: We’re certainly not going to take any action to usurp the authority of local governments. They are the ones that have that decision making ability, and I don’t have any additional information about where they are in that process.
SPEAKER: Any thoughts on it standing there?
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I think that’s something we should get all the input and make the decision, rather than simply taking it down like what happened in Baltimore City. I think we should go through the proper channels.
Anybody else?
All right. One more. Nobody is jumping in, you get an extra one.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: You know, I don’t want to point fingers at exactly who is responsible. There’s a lot of factors that go into why we have a crime situation. But it’s certainly one of the factors when the police aren’t making arrests because the prosecutors said they won’t prosecute the crimes. They’re kind of at a loss for what to do.
SPEAKER: One more question on the masks in regards to school systems that may say, we want to have masks for our kids, we’re going to make that requirement, separate of what you’re saying. What would your advice to the school systems be, and for parents out there who may think it’s a good idea to wear manages to school?
GOVERNOR HOGAN: With respect to the parents, they can make whatever decision they want with their kids, and we would not discourage anybody, if they felt their kids were safer, they could ask their kids to wear a mask.
There’s no mandate from the state government, from the state Board of Education, or from the state Health Department.
Some local school systems may have the authority to do that. I don’t know. I don’t think all of them do. And I would hope that they would follow the science and follow the direction of the state, all the state agencies who have really looked at this pretty carefully.
SPEAKER: Some hospital systems have decided to make it a requirement for their employees to get vaccinated. Are you considering that for state workers?
GOVERNOR HOGAN: No. We supported the hospitals’ ability to make that decision for themselves. It’s obviously really important for healthcare workers in a hospital setting who are coming in contact with so many cases and patients, that they should be to protect themselves. And that’s why our very first vaccines in December of last year went to the hospitals. But we’re not going to have any mandates on vaccines.
All right. Thank you.
With me today are two folks who are no strangers to you. Two of our great team leaders, our health Secretary Dennis Schrader and Dr. Jinlene Chan, who has done such a great job as our Deputy Secretary for public health.
It has been one year, three months, and ten days since we confirmed the first cases of COVID-19 and declared a state of emergency in the state of Maryland. Every single day since that day last March, together we have faced immense and unprecedented challenges. And throughout this long, hard fought battle against the worst global pandemic in more than a century, not a single day has gone by that I haven’t been inspired by the will, the strength, and the resilience of the people of Maryland. We’ve been through so much over the past 15 months, but just look at how far we’ve come together to reach this hopeful point. We hoped closed hospitals, built field hospitals that expanded our hospital surge capacity by 6,000 beds, we procured tens of millions of units of PPE, and deployed thousands of contact tracers across the state. We built an entire testing infrastructure from scratch, going from just 50 COVID tests per day to now surpassing 10,000,600 COVID-19 tests. We built a massive vaccine infrastructure from scratch, deploying a team of more than 11,400 people and opening over 3,000 points of distribution, to provide every single eligible Marylander with access to vaccines.
The state of Maryland has now administered more than 6.5 million COVID-19 vaccines, not only meeting but exceeding our goal of reaching 70% of all adults vaccinated by Memorial Day. More than 72% of all Marylanders 18 years and older and nearly 90% of all Marylanders over the age of 65 have been vaccinated. That’s a faster rate than the nation and faster than most other states in the country. And as the number of vaccinated Marylanders continues to grow, the number of infections continues to fall. Every day now we are seeing amazing declines in all of our health metrics across the board and across the state. In January, our positivity rate was just under 6%, and today it’s under 1%, at 0.82%. The lowest since the pandemic began and lower than 43 other states.
In January our case rate per hundred thousand was 53.39, and today it’s down to 1.57, the lowest since the very first days of the pandemic and the second lowest in America. In January COVID hospitalizations in the state reached nearly 2,000, and today hospitalizations are again below 200, the lowest level since March of 2020.
With all of this amazing progress and thanks in large part to the hard work, the sacrifices, and the vigilance of the people of Maryland, we have finally reached the light at the end of that long tunnel. Today I am announcing the end of the COVID-19 state of emergency in Maryland. On Thursday, July 1st, any and all emergency restrictions and mandates of any kind will end. Masks or face coverings will not be required in any settings anywhere, including schools, camps, and childcare facilities. Businesses and other workplaces are obviously still able to set their own policies and we’ll support their ability to do so, but there will not be any legal mandate from the state for wearing masks at any location anywhere in the state.
July 1st we’ll also begin a 45-day grace period, through August 15, where certain regulations will continue to be relaxed to help people complete the transition out of the pandemic. Just includes an additional 45 days to renew your expired driver’s license, and if you have not yet made an appointment to do that, you should take care of that as soon as possible. We’re also granting an additional extension of the moratorium on evictions related to COVID-19 through August 15. And health officials will have that 45-day period to transition from emergency operations.
While the end of the state of emergency is an important step in our recovery from COVID-19, it does not mean that this virus and the variants no longer pose any threat. If you have been vaccinated, you are safe. But those who have not gotten vaccinated will continue to be at risk.
At this point there’s simply no excuse for not getting vaccinated. The vaccines are safe, effective, and readily available everywhere. Our go vax summer tour will be continuing. This weekend, Father’s Day weekend, we are partnering with the Orioles and Major League Baseball. The vaccination clinics will be at Camden Yards.
We are also reached the midway point of our $2 million vax cash lottery promotion. 22 people have already won $40,000 each, and you still have your chance. Once again, any Maryland resident age 18 and older, is automatically eligible to win $40,000 each day and then has a shot at the grand prize of $400,000, which will be chosen on the 4th of July.
Throughout last winter, when we were still in the thick of our fight against this deadly virus, I would often remind Marylanders how much we were all looking forward to the day when we could take off and throw away our masks, when we could get all our children back into school, and when we could go out for a big celebration at a crowded restaurant or bar with our family and friends. I said then that getting our state vaccinated was the only way to get us back to that sense of normalcy. As they have time and time again throughout this crisis, Marylanders rose to that challenge. Now we are gathering with loved ones that celebrate birthdays and graduations. We’re spending time with and hugging grandparents, having nights out with friends, going to ball games, and we’re getting back to work, with 12 consecutive months of job growth and one of the best economic recoveries in America. It is truly a time for celebration, but I ask that you take a moment to remember those 9,472 lives that we lost, and that we give thanks for the healthcare heroes who saved so many other lives and the citizen soldiers of the Maryland National Guard who answered the call. And remember more than anything that each and every one of you, by your actions, has made this day possible. I’m so proud of our state, and I’m grateful to have had this honor to serve as your Governor.
Thank you all for being Maryland Strong.
With that, I’ll be happy to take a few questions.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: It does not affect our access.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, again, I want to make sure that I stress that it’s not mission accomplished. The battle is not over. We’re transitioning from a state of emergency to an ongoing operation. I can tell you that our hospital, our Health Department, everyone is going to continue to try to wind this down over the next several months, and our efforts continue. But it is a very hopeful point, and the 15 months and 10 days, I can tell you, it’s been our primary focus every single day, the whole day, an all-government approach to tackling this crisis. And it’s great to be able to move it into at least now an important operation rather than the thing that consumes all of our time and effort. But I take my hat off to all the people on our team, in the Governor’s office, at the Department of Health, National Guard, MEMA, every single one across state government, local partners, private sector, and all the people that stepped up. This is an incredible day, and there were days I wasn’t sure we would ever get here. So it’s a little emotional to be at this point.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Yeah, we’re very good in almost every statistic. I said we have the second lowest in America on cases per hundred thousand. I think we have the fourth lowest positivity rate. We’re the seventh best in a couple of other categories. So we’re in the top 10 I believe in every point of measurement. So I’m very pleased with that.
We’re also, on the number of people vaccinated, I think we’re fourth highest in the country, and I think that has to do with all the other metrics. There are some states — the federal government is now saying they may not reach their goal of 70% receiving first vaccine by July 4th, but we reached it in May. I know there are a bunch of states that won’t even get close to that and are at 50%. Our team did an amazing job and the people of Maryland took it a lot more seriously than some of the other folks.
Pam?
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: The catastrophic health emergency does not exist and certain county governments may have their own authorities. I am not an expert on that. Some will not.
SPEAKER: The infrastructure you’ve been using, will that be used ahead, with regard to booster shots and things?
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Maybe I’ll let Dr. Chan talk about that, but absolutely. The things we’ve already set up, we’re already having discussions, talk about how our existing infrastructure will help us with booster shots if they’re necessary in the fall and our flu vaccine effort, which is going to be more critical than ever. We’re expecting a really bad flu season because last year everybody was wearing masks, so both COVID and the flu didn’t get transmitted. I think after a 2-year gap, it’s coming back with the vengeance, right, but I’ll let Dr. Chan talk.
JINLENE CHAN: Yes, absolutely. As the Governor indicated, all of the infrastructure we’ve built up, pharmacies, local providers, local Health Departments, hospitals and others will absolutely serve not only for boosters but also for our flu vaccine campaign which is planned for the fall.
SPEAKER: Are you able at this point to say that there will be no new hospitalizations or new cases of unvaccinated people?
JINLENE CHAN: We’re looking very closely at that. We’re looking at some of the numbers even in May. The vast majority of the people who were getting admitted to hospitals were unvaccinated in the range of 80% or so. So we’re taking a closer look at that, though.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
JINLENE CHAN: Correct, correct. We continue to say vaccines are effective and that even though our hospitalization rates are low, I think today we had about 65 people in ICU beds around Maryland. The people who are getting sick and certainly the sickest are those primarily who remain unvaccinated, so we encourage everyone to get vaccinated.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, it was a disturbing video. I watched it yesterday as soon as it was hitting the atmosphere. We reached out, had conversations with both the mayor of Ocean City and our state police, have reached out to Ocean City police, and you know, I believe that we’re just anxious to get the initial investigation conducted so we can have all the facts before making any further statements about it.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, you know, I’ve spoken out on this before. You know, we really need leaders of Baltimore City to step up and take some new actions. What they’ve been doing obviously is not working well. We’ve had numerous discussions with them. We’ve invested more than a billion dollars in public safety in the city. We’ve provided the assistance of state police and our four other state agencies. It really comes down to the folks in Baltimore City are going to have to do something about the crime, particularly the violent crime in the city. And we have to start enforcing the law. We’re going to have to arrest people who violate the law. And we’re going to have to prosecute them and take violent shooters off the street. So far that’s not something that the city has been willing to do.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: We talk to them every single day. State police is in communication with them. They know very well what we think they need to do. They I think have a different plan.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: We’re certainly not going to take any action to usurp the authority of local governments. They are the ones that have that decision making ability, and I don’t have any additional information about where they are in that process.
SPEAKER: Any thoughts on it standing there?
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I think that’s something we should get all the input and make the decision, rather than simply taking it down like what happened in Baltimore City. I think we should go through the proper channels.
Anybody else?
All right. One more. Nobody is jumping in, you get an extra one.
(Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: You know, I don’t want to point fingers at exactly who is responsible. There’s a lot of factors that go into why we have a crime situation. But it’s certainly one of the factors when the police aren’t making arrests because the prosecutors said they won’t prosecute the crimes. They’re kind of at a loss for what to do.
SPEAKER: One more question on the masks in regards to school systems that may say, we want to have masks for our kids, we’re going to make that requirement, separate of what you’re saying. What would your advice to the school systems be, and for parents out there who may think it’s a good idea to wear manages to school?
GOVERNOR HOGAN: With respect to the parents, they can make whatever decision they want with their kids, and we would not discourage anybody, if they felt their kids were safer, they could ask their kids to wear a mask.
There’s no mandate from the state government, from the state Board of Education, or from the state Health Department.
Some local school systems may have the authority to do that. I don’t know. I don’t think all of them do. And I would hope that they would follow the science and follow the direction of the state, all the state agencies who have really looked at this pretty carefully.
SPEAKER: Some hospital systems have decided to make it a requirement for their employees to get vaccinated. Are you considering that for state workers?
GOVERNOR HOGAN: No. We supported the hospitals’ ability to make that decision for themselves. It’s obviously really important for healthcare workers in a hospital setting who are coming in contact with so many cases and patients, that they should be to protect themselves. And that’s why our very first vaccines in December of last year went to the hospitals. But we’re not going to have any mandates on vaccines.
All right. Thank you.