GOVERNOR HOGAN: Good afternoon. I’m here today to discuss the progress on our coronavirus recovery plans, but I want to begin by taking a moment to address the senseless murder of George Floyd, which has served as yet another reminder that we still have a long way to go to live up to our nation’s highest ideals. In recent days, protests have been held in cities across America, including in Baltimore City, where thousands of young people and community leaders have expressed their frustrations peacefully while working together with law enforcement to stand up to and help stop a small group of people with a violent agenda. One Baltimore activist said, “We won’t let outside agitators tell the story of Baltimore.”
I am incredibly proud that during this difficult time, the people of Baltimore City have set an example for the rest of America, and I want to thank Mayor Jack Young, Commissioner Harrison, Baltimore City Police Department, the Maryland State Police, the MTA and MBPA police, as well as the citizen soldiers of the Maryland National Guard, but most importantly, I want to thank the residents of Baltimore who are showing the power of the strong, compassionate, and united community.
But even as Marylanders gather to peacefully protest, I want to reiterate to those participating in these events that it’s still important to continue to take precautions to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. We continue to make great progress, but we are not out of the woods yet.
I also want to take a moment to address what we saw yesterday and over the last few weeks from the Board of Elections regarding the problems with the primary election, the fact that thousands of Marylanders either did not receive their ballots or received erroneous or late ballots. All of this is completely unacceptable. The most basic responsibility of the SBE is ensuring that free and fair elections are conducted. There were obviously significant failures. There are questions that need to be answered, which is why we are calling on the SBE administrator for a full and complete report to me, to public works, Secretary of State, the presiding officers of the Maryland General Assembly, and to the public no later than July 3.
I’m also requesting that the Maryland General Assembly immediately begin oversight hearings to determine what caused the failures and how they can be corrected, and I want to assure you that we’re going to take whatever actions are necessary to make sure that those who are responsible correct these problems in order to safeguard our democratic process and ensure that our November election is free of these failures and these issues.
Now I would like to turn to our state’s continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of today, Maryland has conducted 380,716 COVID-19 tests, including 14,385 in just the last 24 hours, which is well above our short-term goal of 10,000 tests per day. In May, we increased testing 117% over the month of April, and by the end of this week, we will exceed 400,000 tests.
In March, after we had our first COVID-19 cases break out here in Maryland, we had the ability to conduct just 50 tests per day. At that time and throughout all of March and April, there were no significant quantities of COVID-19 test kits available anywhere in the United States.
The federal government made it clear early on that they had no tests, no real testing strategy, and that states were on their own when it came to acquiring test kits and all of the various necessary components needed to expand testing capacity. States have been forced to compete against each other, the federal government, and other countries out of need and at times even desperation to procure tests and testing supplies from every domestic producer in the United States and from sources all around the globe.
44 days ago I announced that we had taken the unprecedented action of acquiring 500,000 tests from South Korea, which ensured that we would have a sustainable, long-term supply of coronavirus tests. As I announced on that day, when we first acquired these crucial tests, I said that they were a part of a long-term strategy and just one vital component of a complex nine-step process which would also include things such as nasal swabs, viral media, platform specific reagents, specialized RNA extraction kits, and significant clinical lab capacity, among other things.
As chairman of the National Governors Association, I led the fight to push for more federal assistance on all of these things, including pushing to invoke the Defense Production Act to produce more swabs and testing supplies. We were also able to procure and even create our own supply of swabs using 3D printer technology, along with many other necessary components and resources, enough that we could also share them with local jurisdictions.
To boost our resources further, and to overcome the global supply chain challenges, scientists at our state public health laboratory even began making their own tubes of viral transport media and are now able to produce 10,000 tubes per week. One of our biggest challenges in this multistep, multi-facetted process was acquiring the necessary lab capacity, and although the White House publicly offered the use of federal labs, after several months of effort, the reality is that we still have not been able to access any of them. Thankfully we are very far along on an ambitious and far-reaching partnership that I announced in April with the University of Maryland Baltimore School of Medicine Institute for Genome Sciences to convert a powerful research lab into a full-scale clinical testing lab, which would utilize specialized Korean machinery and cutting edge robotics, scaling up its workforce and expanding its IT and logistics capabilities to run these tests at a high volume.
Today I’m happy to announce that this lab is fully operational and able to process tests many weeks ahead of schedule. This lab will be the backbone of our sustained long-term testing strategy. Many experts are predicting a second wave or a surge this fall, and we obviously already have enough tests in Maryland for our short-term needs, but many states are very concerned about testing shortages again this fall. Not just because of a potential spike, but because as the normal flu season begins, the demand for COVID tests will skyrocket as people are suffering flu-like symptoms. We are and will continue to be much better positioned for that than almost any other state, and our strategic stockpile of tests and our successful long-term strategy will ensure that we have a strong and fully functioning supply of tests until such time as there is a vaccine. This new signature testing lab right here in our state, with our solid foundation of equipment platforms, expert scientists, and a strong investment by the state will continue to put Maryland in a unique position to confront this pandemic.
And I want to thank you’re partners at the Institute for Genome Sciences for their incredible efforts over the past few weeks to get this lab up and running so quickly. All of the success on our short-term and long-term testing strategies, which are the key building blocks enable us to see downward trends in all of the key metrics.
Since announcing stage 1 of our recovery plan, we have seen Maryland’s COVID-19 positivity rate drop to single digits. Our statewide positivity rate is now 9.5%, which is down nearly 65% since its peak 48 days ago on April 17 when we were at 26.91%. The positivity rate in Baltimore City is now down nearly 64%, from a high of 27.38 on April 19 to 9.9 today. Baltimore County is at 8.7%. Frederick County, 9.4. Howard County is at 8.8%. And Anne Arundel County at 8.6. All of them are below the state average.
Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties, which are still above the rest of the state with respect to positivity are continuing to see dramatic improvements. The positivity in Prince George’s County has dropped by more than 66% from a high of 41.96 on May 2 to a current rate of 14.1%. And Montgomery County has also dropped by more than 62% from a high of 32.64% to now 12.3%.
As a threshold for entering stage 2, CDC guidelines called for a downward trajectory in the positivity rate below 15% for 14 days after entering stage 1. Maryland has now been below the 14% positivity mark for 14 straight days. Total hospitalizations in Maryland, one of the other key metrics for recovery, are at their lowest level in 50 days, and the number of patients in ICU continues to plateau and is at its lowest level since April 17.
Our testing capacity, the drop in positivity, hospitalizations, and ICU beds, and all of these metrics allow us to now safely begin stage 2 of our roadmap to recovery, and to take more steps that are critical for getting our economy back on track and getting more Marylanders back to work. Effective at 5:00 on Friday, June 5, we will be lifting the order requiring the closure of nonessential businesses. The list of Maryland businesses that are open is now much, much longer than the list of those few which will have to remain closed a little while longer. Manufacturing, construction, large and small retail shops, specialty vendors, wholesalers, warehouses, offices, including information technology firms, legal offices, accounting, banking, financial institutions, insurance agencies, design studios, advertising and architectural firms and media production companies will all be open and operational in Maryland. Real estate offices, travel agencies, auto dealers, showrooms, bank branches, and various other businesses and offices can all safely reopen with public health and safety guidance recommendations in place. Personal services such as nail salons and tanning salons may also reopen at 50% capacity by appointment only with strict safety protocols.
For all businesses, face coverings are encouraged whenever face-to-face interaction takes place. Businesses are encouraged to implement a screening process including temperature checks for personnel, based on CDC and Health Department guidance. Businesses are also strongly encouraged to develop plans which limit the proximity of employees by rotating employee hours, instituting split schedules, shifts, shorter work weeks, or staggering start break or shift times.
While we are excited to get much of our economy restarted, I want to be very clear: Just because Marylanders can return to the office doesn’t mean that they should. And employees who can telework should continue teleworking whenever possible, and safety must remain a top priority for every single business in our state. No worker wants to get this virus or give it to his or her coworkers, and no employer wants an outbreak at his or her workplace.
Additionally, starting Monday, June 8, state governments will begin returning to more normal operations. The MVA and other customer-facing agencies will begin a phased reopening of select branches to customers on a limited basis by appointment only with staff wearing face coverings and with Plexiglas dividers at each station. With more Marylanders going back to work, we will also begin gradually returning to more normal transit schedules. And the Maryland State Department of Education will continue with its plan to reopen childcare centers to ensure that there are more spots available to more and more parents that are returning to the workforce.
Looking ahead, as we move forward on our safe and gradual Roadmap to Recovery, if we continue to see these really encouraging trends that we are currently experiencing, our next step likely coinciding with the end of the school year will be to consider opening some additional outdoor amusement, fitness, sporting, and other summertime activities.
I want to thank the thousands of businesses that have already safely reopened under stage 1. Especially those that have taken the Maryland Strong: Back to Business pledge seriously and displayed it on their store fronts and their places of business in order to assure their employees, customers, and the public that they are putting safety first by enforcing physical distancing, masking, sanitation, and adhering to the CDC guidelines and state Health Department guidelines. All of the businesses opening in stage 2 are strongly encouraged to follow this as well.
I want to remind Marylanders once again that the Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery is based on the flexible community-based approach which was requested by county leaders, and as of this week, all 24 jurisdictions have begun stage 1 of the recovery, and as of this Friday at 5:00, all counties will also be able to enter stage 2 at their discretion.
I also want to continue to remind the people of Maryland that moving into stage 2 does not mean that this crisis is behind us or that we can afford to stop being vigilant and cautious. All Marylanders, particularly those older and more vulnerable populations, are advised to continue staying home whenever possible. Employers should continue to encourage telework for their employees when possible. And Marylanders should also continue practicing physical distancing, staying 6 feet apart and avoiding crowds and close gatherings.
Moving into stage 2 is an important step forward for our state after what has been a very difficult period, and the people of our great state have endured so many significant personal, medical, and economic challenges, but in the face of the most daunting challenge of our lifetime, people of Maryland have been resilient, they have never lost hope, and they are showing what it truly means to be Maryland Strong.
With that, I would be happy to take any questions.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: That’s a pretty diverse question, but… Let me just — sounds like two questions. On the first one, you know, I was pretty clear that we need to get to the bottom of the problems at the State Board of Elections. You know, I agree that there were obviously, there was a serious lack of leadership and tremendous problems that took place, serious failures, which is why I’ve asked for this report. I’ve asked the legislature to look into it. And it’s probably something we have to seriously consider.
The second part of the question, I’m glad you asked that. I’m glad that people are able to really express their frustrations and get out and protest, and it’s nice to see the peaceful protests in Baltimore. I am concerned that so many people are gathered closely together, and we have free coronavirus testing widely available in every jurisdiction, and I would encourage people that if you were in close proximity, with a whole lot of people, and you should take advantage of that and get one of these available tests. And I would also encourage particularly a lot of the young people out there in that crowd to just be careful. I wouldn’t be hugging grandma until you get that test.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: So first of all, the state elections administrator used to serve at the pleasure of the State Board of Elections, and the legislature changed that law. So she doesn’t report to the Governor or the legislature or the State Board of Elections. No one has the ability to really fire her. It was a terrible mistake. This happened during the earlier administration. When a Governor is elected, the party changes. Forever it was three democrats and two republicans. When Bob Ehrlich came in, it was three republicans and two democrats and they weren’t happy with Linda Lamone like 18 years ago. They took a vote to remove her. And Mike Miller pushed a bill and changed the law so she could not be removed. That law is still in place.
So if the legislature finds wrongdoing, failures, problems, then I would encourage them to go back and change the law so that the State Board of Elections can decide what to do about the administrator.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: So the Secretary of Defense called me directly and asked. He did not want to utilize the military. And I agree with that. I’m very much opposed to calling up the active duty military. But they asked if we would — we have 1300 members of the Maryland National Guard called up already. They’ve been serving for two months, these citizen soldiers, providing coronavirus tests, feeding meals to kids, and providing all kinds of terrific work for our citizens.
They asked if there was a specific, mission-specific thing that they would do. Had nothing to do with the things that took place the other night. It was after that. They went in the next day with a very specific mission to fill in for the Park Service to — and these are the guys I think who were providing coronavirus tests. They’re now guarding our nation’s monuments or patrolling our monuments. So I think they were at the Lincoln Memorial, this beautiful, iconic facility. I think they were there last night and just standing at the monuments. They were not involved in the altercations.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: So Mayor Bowser not being a Governor has no control over the National Guard, but we did reach out to her office and she approved of that.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I started my remarks off by saying if you see the improvements in the community relations, particularly in Baltimore City with the police, if you saw the other night where citizens of Baltimore were dragging these outside agitators over to the police, saying, please, arrest them, lock them up, that’s quite a bit of trust. When you saw the community leaders leading the peaceful protests, telling people it’s time to go home and telling the bad folks, don’t do that, don’t break down those barricades, don’t throw those rocks, we’re one of the only cities in America that didn’t have violence, looting, burning, and it’s because of the community leaders and the protesters are working together very well, and I think that’s a great sign.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I think the speaker has announced that she’s going to put together a task force to look into those kinds of things, and I would be more than happy to take a look at whatever recommendations they have.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, I certainly, it’s certainly the opposite of the approach that we have taken, so if you look at two different cities, two different approaches, I think it was almost the complete opposite. And it’s not something that we would have done. If you look at what happened in Baltimore the other night, it was almost the exact opposite. We had the National Guard there, we had three state police agencies there, we had great cooperation with the city police, and they were working with the protesters. The protesters, there were thousands of people protesting peacefully, and they stayed until about 1:30 in the morning, but we had no altercations with the police and no violence. And every Governor in America is asking me how we did that. So I think our approach is better. I think we learned a lot of lessons. We sort of wrote the book on how to deal with these things in 2015. Now it’s even better. I wouldn’t certainly…
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, I don’t know. That’s something our coronavirus team meets every single day. Our Health Department meets every day on these metrics. All of these things are on our website and they’re watching them daily. I can tell you that about a week ago, we had a two-day tiny little jump in our hospitalizations for two days, and it caused great concern. We all said, hey, what’s going on here. And then it immediately started dropping again. So that’s how closely we’re watching things.
But the trends have all been unbelievable. Two days doesn’t make a trend. We look at 14-day trends and 7-day trends, but we’re going to watch it very closely I think. I mean, all the experts have said, you know, we’ve dampened the curve, we’ve flattened the curve, but the virus is still there. It’s still out there. Until we get a vaccine, we’re going to have to be vigilant, and you can’t guarantee those spikes won’t happen, and multiple times.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I think it’s not just the Lincoln Memorial. I think they put a couple guys at various of the national monuments.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: They are specifically not involved in any of the things with the protesters. They’re on a specific mission to spread out, standing at monuments. And without being involved in any of this.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: The original, it makes sense, because elections are supposed to be free and independent. You wouldn’t want a partisan republican or democratic Governor to be able to fire the administrator, control the election board, you know, rig the elections. So it’s supposed to be an independent body. But there’s supposed to be accountability, accountable to somebody. An appointed board of people. Those names, the Democratic Party sends their names, the Republican Party sends their names. I don’t have any discretion. But the parties elect people for the board. But she used to report to those people, and she no longer does.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: There is no question we’ve got to figure out a way to come up with a better system that’s more accountable. When police officers do anything that is wrong, I mean, this was completely inexcusable. This wasn’t just a bad cop or bad policing. This was a murder in a police uniform, right? This is beyond anything you can possibly imagine.
But I didn’t see anything about Prince George’s County. I don’t know what you’re talking about or what they said or what happened. But yes, police officers need to be held accountable like everybody else, and if there are some steps that people believe we ought to consider to make sure that we take further steps, we’ll do that.
SPEAKER: Last question.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: That’s a great question. Look, nobody is following that cap on social gatherings because I think there were several thousand people in a social gathering and I don’t know how you define a social gathering, but the 10-person limit is technically still in effect. But it’s still not really safe to be gathering with more than 10 people closely together, but most people are not following that, and it’s probably something — I think every state still has it in place and nobody is following it. Great question to end on.
Thank you.
I am incredibly proud that during this difficult time, the people of Baltimore City have set an example for the rest of America, and I want to thank Mayor Jack Young, Commissioner Harrison, Baltimore City Police Department, the Maryland State Police, the MTA and MBPA police, as well as the citizen soldiers of the Maryland National Guard, but most importantly, I want to thank the residents of Baltimore who are showing the power of the strong, compassionate, and united community.
But even as Marylanders gather to peacefully protest, I want to reiterate to those participating in these events that it’s still important to continue to take precautions to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. We continue to make great progress, but we are not out of the woods yet.
I also want to take a moment to address what we saw yesterday and over the last few weeks from the Board of Elections regarding the problems with the primary election, the fact that thousands of Marylanders either did not receive their ballots or received erroneous or late ballots. All of this is completely unacceptable. The most basic responsibility of the SBE is ensuring that free and fair elections are conducted. There were obviously significant failures. There are questions that need to be answered, which is why we are calling on the SBE administrator for a full and complete report to me, to public works, Secretary of State, the presiding officers of the Maryland General Assembly, and to the public no later than July 3.
I’m also requesting that the Maryland General Assembly immediately begin oversight hearings to determine what caused the failures and how they can be corrected, and I want to assure you that we’re going to take whatever actions are necessary to make sure that those who are responsible correct these problems in order to safeguard our democratic process and ensure that our November election is free of these failures and these issues.
Now I would like to turn to our state’s continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of today, Maryland has conducted 380,716 COVID-19 tests, including 14,385 in just the last 24 hours, which is well above our short-term goal of 10,000 tests per day. In May, we increased testing 117% over the month of April, and by the end of this week, we will exceed 400,000 tests.
In March, after we had our first COVID-19 cases break out here in Maryland, we had the ability to conduct just 50 tests per day. At that time and throughout all of March and April, there were no significant quantities of COVID-19 test kits available anywhere in the United States.
The federal government made it clear early on that they had no tests, no real testing strategy, and that states were on their own when it came to acquiring test kits and all of the various necessary components needed to expand testing capacity. States have been forced to compete against each other, the federal government, and other countries out of need and at times even desperation to procure tests and testing supplies from every domestic producer in the United States and from sources all around the globe.
44 days ago I announced that we had taken the unprecedented action of acquiring 500,000 tests from South Korea, which ensured that we would have a sustainable, long-term supply of coronavirus tests. As I announced on that day, when we first acquired these crucial tests, I said that they were a part of a long-term strategy and just one vital component of a complex nine-step process which would also include things such as nasal swabs, viral media, platform specific reagents, specialized RNA extraction kits, and significant clinical lab capacity, among other things.
As chairman of the National Governors Association, I led the fight to push for more federal assistance on all of these things, including pushing to invoke the Defense Production Act to produce more swabs and testing supplies. We were also able to procure and even create our own supply of swabs using 3D printer technology, along with many other necessary components and resources, enough that we could also share them with local jurisdictions.
To boost our resources further, and to overcome the global supply chain challenges, scientists at our state public health laboratory even began making their own tubes of viral transport media and are now able to produce 10,000 tubes per week. One of our biggest challenges in this multistep, multi-facetted process was acquiring the necessary lab capacity, and although the White House publicly offered the use of federal labs, after several months of effort, the reality is that we still have not been able to access any of them. Thankfully we are very far along on an ambitious and far-reaching partnership that I announced in April with the University of Maryland Baltimore School of Medicine Institute for Genome Sciences to convert a powerful research lab into a full-scale clinical testing lab, which would utilize specialized Korean machinery and cutting edge robotics, scaling up its workforce and expanding its IT and logistics capabilities to run these tests at a high volume.
Today I’m happy to announce that this lab is fully operational and able to process tests many weeks ahead of schedule. This lab will be the backbone of our sustained long-term testing strategy. Many experts are predicting a second wave or a surge this fall, and we obviously already have enough tests in Maryland for our short-term needs, but many states are very concerned about testing shortages again this fall. Not just because of a potential spike, but because as the normal flu season begins, the demand for COVID tests will skyrocket as people are suffering flu-like symptoms. We are and will continue to be much better positioned for that than almost any other state, and our strategic stockpile of tests and our successful long-term strategy will ensure that we have a strong and fully functioning supply of tests until such time as there is a vaccine. This new signature testing lab right here in our state, with our solid foundation of equipment platforms, expert scientists, and a strong investment by the state will continue to put Maryland in a unique position to confront this pandemic.
And I want to thank you’re partners at the Institute for Genome Sciences for their incredible efforts over the past few weeks to get this lab up and running so quickly. All of the success on our short-term and long-term testing strategies, which are the key building blocks enable us to see downward trends in all of the key metrics.
Since announcing stage 1 of our recovery plan, we have seen Maryland’s COVID-19 positivity rate drop to single digits. Our statewide positivity rate is now 9.5%, which is down nearly 65% since its peak 48 days ago on April 17 when we were at 26.91%. The positivity rate in Baltimore City is now down nearly 64%, from a high of 27.38 on April 19 to 9.9 today. Baltimore County is at 8.7%. Frederick County, 9.4. Howard County is at 8.8%. And Anne Arundel County at 8.6. All of them are below the state average.
Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties, which are still above the rest of the state with respect to positivity are continuing to see dramatic improvements. The positivity in Prince George’s County has dropped by more than 66% from a high of 41.96 on May 2 to a current rate of 14.1%. And Montgomery County has also dropped by more than 62% from a high of 32.64% to now 12.3%.
As a threshold for entering stage 2, CDC guidelines called for a downward trajectory in the positivity rate below 15% for 14 days after entering stage 1. Maryland has now been below the 14% positivity mark for 14 straight days. Total hospitalizations in Maryland, one of the other key metrics for recovery, are at their lowest level in 50 days, and the number of patients in ICU continues to plateau and is at its lowest level since April 17.
Our testing capacity, the drop in positivity, hospitalizations, and ICU beds, and all of these metrics allow us to now safely begin stage 2 of our roadmap to recovery, and to take more steps that are critical for getting our economy back on track and getting more Marylanders back to work. Effective at 5:00 on Friday, June 5, we will be lifting the order requiring the closure of nonessential businesses. The list of Maryland businesses that are open is now much, much longer than the list of those few which will have to remain closed a little while longer. Manufacturing, construction, large and small retail shops, specialty vendors, wholesalers, warehouses, offices, including information technology firms, legal offices, accounting, banking, financial institutions, insurance agencies, design studios, advertising and architectural firms and media production companies will all be open and operational in Maryland. Real estate offices, travel agencies, auto dealers, showrooms, bank branches, and various other businesses and offices can all safely reopen with public health and safety guidance recommendations in place. Personal services such as nail salons and tanning salons may also reopen at 50% capacity by appointment only with strict safety protocols.
For all businesses, face coverings are encouraged whenever face-to-face interaction takes place. Businesses are encouraged to implement a screening process including temperature checks for personnel, based on CDC and Health Department guidance. Businesses are also strongly encouraged to develop plans which limit the proximity of employees by rotating employee hours, instituting split schedules, shifts, shorter work weeks, or staggering start break or shift times.
While we are excited to get much of our economy restarted, I want to be very clear: Just because Marylanders can return to the office doesn’t mean that they should. And employees who can telework should continue teleworking whenever possible, and safety must remain a top priority for every single business in our state. No worker wants to get this virus or give it to his or her coworkers, and no employer wants an outbreak at his or her workplace.
Additionally, starting Monday, June 8, state governments will begin returning to more normal operations. The MVA and other customer-facing agencies will begin a phased reopening of select branches to customers on a limited basis by appointment only with staff wearing face coverings and with Plexiglas dividers at each station. With more Marylanders going back to work, we will also begin gradually returning to more normal transit schedules. And the Maryland State Department of Education will continue with its plan to reopen childcare centers to ensure that there are more spots available to more and more parents that are returning to the workforce.
Looking ahead, as we move forward on our safe and gradual Roadmap to Recovery, if we continue to see these really encouraging trends that we are currently experiencing, our next step likely coinciding with the end of the school year will be to consider opening some additional outdoor amusement, fitness, sporting, and other summertime activities.
I want to thank the thousands of businesses that have already safely reopened under stage 1. Especially those that have taken the Maryland Strong: Back to Business pledge seriously and displayed it on their store fronts and their places of business in order to assure their employees, customers, and the public that they are putting safety first by enforcing physical distancing, masking, sanitation, and adhering to the CDC guidelines and state Health Department guidelines. All of the businesses opening in stage 2 are strongly encouraged to follow this as well.
I want to remind Marylanders once again that the Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery is based on the flexible community-based approach which was requested by county leaders, and as of this week, all 24 jurisdictions have begun stage 1 of the recovery, and as of this Friday at 5:00, all counties will also be able to enter stage 2 at their discretion.
I also want to continue to remind the people of Maryland that moving into stage 2 does not mean that this crisis is behind us or that we can afford to stop being vigilant and cautious. All Marylanders, particularly those older and more vulnerable populations, are advised to continue staying home whenever possible. Employers should continue to encourage telework for their employees when possible. And Marylanders should also continue practicing physical distancing, staying 6 feet apart and avoiding crowds and close gatherings.
Moving into stage 2 is an important step forward for our state after what has been a very difficult period, and the people of our great state have endured so many significant personal, medical, and economic challenges, but in the face of the most daunting challenge of our lifetime, people of Maryland have been resilient, they have never lost hope, and they are showing what it truly means to be Maryland Strong.
With that, I would be happy to take any questions.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: That’s a pretty diverse question, but… Let me just — sounds like two questions. On the first one, you know, I was pretty clear that we need to get to the bottom of the problems at the State Board of Elections. You know, I agree that there were obviously, there was a serious lack of leadership and tremendous problems that took place, serious failures, which is why I’ve asked for this report. I’ve asked the legislature to look into it. And it’s probably something we have to seriously consider.
The second part of the question, I’m glad you asked that. I’m glad that people are able to really express their frustrations and get out and protest, and it’s nice to see the peaceful protests in Baltimore. I am concerned that so many people are gathered closely together, and we have free coronavirus testing widely available in every jurisdiction, and I would encourage people that if you were in close proximity, with a whole lot of people, and you should take advantage of that and get one of these available tests. And I would also encourage particularly a lot of the young people out there in that crowd to just be careful. I wouldn’t be hugging grandma until you get that test.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: So first of all, the state elections administrator used to serve at the pleasure of the State Board of Elections, and the legislature changed that law. So she doesn’t report to the Governor or the legislature or the State Board of Elections. No one has the ability to really fire her. It was a terrible mistake. This happened during the earlier administration. When a Governor is elected, the party changes. Forever it was three democrats and two republicans. When Bob Ehrlich came in, it was three republicans and two democrats and they weren’t happy with Linda Lamone like 18 years ago. They took a vote to remove her. And Mike Miller pushed a bill and changed the law so she could not be removed. That law is still in place.
So if the legislature finds wrongdoing, failures, problems, then I would encourage them to go back and change the law so that the State Board of Elections can decide what to do about the administrator.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: So the Secretary of Defense called me directly and asked. He did not want to utilize the military. And I agree with that. I’m very much opposed to calling up the active duty military. But they asked if we would — we have 1300 members of the Maryland National Guard called up already. They’ve been serving for two months, these citizen soldiers, providing coronavirus tests, feeding meals to kids, and providing all kinds of terrific work for our citizens.
They asked if there was a specific, mission-specific thing that they would do. Had nothing to do with the things that took place the other night. It was after that. They went in the next day with a very specific mission to fill in for the Park Service to — and these are the guys I think who were providing coronavirus tests. They’re now guarding our nation’s monuments or patrolling our monuments. So I think they were at the Lincoln Memorial, this beautiful, iconic facility. I think they were there last night and just standing at the monuments. They were not involved in the altercations.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: So Mayor Bowser not being a Governor has no control over the National Guard, but we did reach out to her office and she approved of that.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I started my remarks off by saying if you see the improvements in the community relations, particularly in Baltimore City with the police, if you saw the other night where citizens of Baltimore were dragging these outside agitators over to the police, saying, please, arrest them, lock them up, that’s quite a bit of trust. When you saw the community leaders leading the peaceful protests, telling people it’s time to go home and telling the bad folks, don’t do that, don’t break down those barricades, don’t throw those rocks, we’re one of the only cities in America that didn’t have violence, looting, burning, and it’s because of the community leaders and the protesters are working together very well, and I think that’s a great sign.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I think the speaker has announced that she’s going to put together a task force to look into those kinds of things, and I would be more than happy to take a look at whatever recommendations they have.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, I certainly, it’s certainly the opposite of the approach that we have taken, so if you look at two different cities, two different approaches, I think it was almost the complete opposite. And it’s not something that we would have done. If you look at what happened in Baltimore the other night, it was almost the exact opposite. We had the National Guard there, we had three state police agencies there, we had great cooperation with the city police, and they were working with the protesters. The protesters, there were thousands of people protesting peacefully, and they stayed until about 1:30 in the morning, but we had no altercations with the police and no violence. And every Governor in America is asking me how we did that. So I think our approach is better. I think we learned a lot of lessons. We sort of wrote the book on how to deal with these things in 2015. Now it’s even better. I wouldn’t certainly…
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, I don’t know. That’s something our coronavirus team meets every single day. Our Health Department meets every day on these metrics. All of these things are on our website and they’re watching them daily. I can tell you that about a week ago, we had a two-day tiny little jump in our hospitalizations for two days, and it caused great concern. We all said, hey, what’s going on here. And then it immediately started dropping again. So that’s how closely we’re watching things.
But the trends have all been unbelievable. Two days doesn’t make a trend. We look at 14-day trends and 7-day trends, but we’re going to watch it very closely I think. I mean, all the experts have said, you know, we’ve dampened the curve, we’ve flattened the curve, but the virus is still there. It’s still out there. Until we get a vaccine, we’re going to have to be vigilant, and you can’t guarantee those spikes won’t happen, and multiple times.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I think it’s not just the Lincoln Memorial. I think they put a couple guys at various of the national monuments.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: They are specifically not involved in any of the things with the protesters. They’re on a specific mission to spread out, standing at monuments. And without being involved in any of this.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: The original, it makes sense, because elections are supposed to be free and independent. You wouldn’t want a partisan republican or democratic Governor to be able to fire the administrator, control the election board, you know, rig the elections. So it’s supposed to be an independent body. But there’s supposed to be accountability, accountable to somebody. An appointed board of people. Those names, the Democratic Party sends their names, the Republican Party sends their names. I don’t have any discretion. But the parties elect people for the board. But she used to report to those people, and she no longer does.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: There is no question we’ve got to figure out a way to come up with a better system that’s more accountable. When police officers do anything that is wrong, I mean, this was completely inexcusable. This wasn’t just a bad cop or bad policing. This was a murder in a police uniform, right? This is beyond anything you can possibly imagine.
But I didn’t see anything about Prince George’s County. I don’t know what you’re talking about or what they said or what happened. But yes, police officers need to be held accountable like everybody else, and if there are some steps that people believe we ought to consider to make sure that we take further steps, we’ll do that.
SPEAKER: Last question.
SPEAKER: (Question off mic).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: That’s a great question. Look, nobody is following that cap on social gatherings because I think there were several thousand people in a social gathering and I don’t know how you define a social gathering, but the 10-person limit is technically still in effect. But it’s still not really safe to be gathering with more than 10 people closely together, but most people are not following that, and it’s probably something — I think every state still has it in place and nobody is following it. Great question to end on.
Thank you.