MARYLAND — In what he called an “amazing team effort” that will help Maryland pinpoint coronavirus cases and work to reopen daily functions, Gov. Larry Hogan said Monday the state has procured 500,000 testing kits from a South Korean company.
The Republican leader made the announcement at a news conference in Annapolis. First lady Yumi Hogan, who he said helped secure the test kits, also made an appearance.
“We’ve been quietly working for a number of weeks on a confidential project called Operation Enduring Friendship,” Hogan said. “On Saturday, the first lady and I stood on the tarmac at BWI Airport to welcome the first-ever Korean air passenger plane … which was carrying a very important payload of LabGun COVID-19 PCR test kits.”
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The test kits come from LabGenomics, a vendor in the South Korean city of Seongnam — which is about 12 miles southeast of Seoul.
“The 500,000 test capacity which we have just acquired is equal to the total amount of testing which has been completed by four of the top five states in America combined,” Hogan said, noting that it represents an “exponential, game-changing step forward” for the state’s testing initiative.
The test kits will cost about $9 million — which the governor says “seems like a pretty worthwhile investment” considering it will protect thousands of lives and get the state’s economy back on track.
Yumi, who was born in Korea, was involved in negotiations with her native country.
On March 28, the day Operation Enduring Friendship was created, Hogan said he asked his wife to join him on a call with Lee Soo Hyuck, the Korean ambassador to the United States.
“We made a personal plea in Korean asking for their assistance,” he said, adding that the call “set in motion 22 straight days” of vetting, testing and negotiating among scientists, doctors and government agencies from both Maryland and South Korea.
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The announcement comes several days after President Donald Trump said states had enough COVID-19 tests to reopen. Hogan has called Trump’s claim “just absolutely false.”
In order to reopen Maryland, there needs to be an expansion of testing capacities, according to Hogan.
“The incredible success of Operation Enduring Friendship has not only put us on track to achieve that goal, but it literally will help save the lives of thousands of Marylanders,” he said.
The governor previously said his goal is to administer 10,000 tests a day in order to loosen restrictions on businesses and gatherings. On Monday, Hogan said he’d like the state to perform 20,000 tests a day, if possible.
As of Monday morning, 13,684 people have tested positive for the new coronavirus in Maryland. That’s an increase of 854 cases since the previous day, when there were 12,830. The state’s death toll now stands at 516. A day ago, it was 486.
An additional 66 Marylanders are categorized as “probable deaths,” since lab tests are required to verify they had the virus but their death certificates list COVID-19 as a cause of death.
Maryland reported its first three cases of coronavirus on March 5. Since then, 57,713 people have tested negative for the disease, 3,014 have been hospitalized, and 917 have been released from hospitalization.
Speaking outside the Maryland Statehouse on Monday, Hogan also said the state will introduce its “Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery” later this week. The recovery plan has four building blocks, which he says include: developing a robust contact tracing operation; expanding hospital surge capacity; ramping up supply of personal protective equipment; and increasing testing capacity.
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