Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday said he is doing fine and only experiencing cold-like symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19 and announced additional actions to address a winter surge in infections amid hospital staff shortages.
Speaking from the confines of his home, the governor said he received both a positive PCR test result for COVID-19 and a positive rapid test result. He attributed his mild symptoms to becoming fully vaccinated and receiving a booster shot.
“I cannot stress this enough: getting vaccinated and getting your booster is your strongest possible defense against this virus and its variants,” Mr. Hogan said. “We’re entering another pivotal moment in the fight against COVID-19.”
COVID-19 numbers are up in Maryland, including infections attributed to the omicron variant although there have been relatively few hospitalizations from the strain so far.
Preliminary data shows omicron makes up nearly 40% of sequenced COVID-19 cases in the state currently, with numbers increasing very quickly, according to the Maryland Department of Health.
The latest health data shows the state reported a seven-day positivity rate of 11.6% as of Monday, up from about 5% from Nov. 30.
Maryland on Tuesday reported a single-day high of 6,218 new COVID-19 cases while also surpassing more than 3,000 new infections for three days last week, according to Mr. Hogan. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have surpassed 1,300 – an increase of more than 180% in the last month, he said. The governor added the state projections show hospitalizations could exceed 2,000 and peak in mid-to-late January, coinciding with higher flu activity.
Dr. Ted Delbridge, executive director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, said hospitals reported 1,457 COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday morning, double since the beginning of the month.
While there is plenty of physical space in hospitals available, he said there are fewer hospital workers. In January 2020, hospitals were able to staff 8,400 beds, but in recent weeks they have been unable to staff as many as 8,000 beds, according to Dr. Delbridge. He said that hospitals are already at 92% staff capacity and have started cutting back on non-urgent care and services.
To address staffing issues at hospitals, Mr. Hogan announced an additional $50 million in emergency funding to “stabilize hospital workforce and staffing needs.” The governor also announced $25 million for hospitals and $25 million for nursing homes to expand COVID-19 testing, treatments and vaccines.
The governor is also calling on the Maryland National Guard to help expand COVID-19 testing sites and hours. The Maryland Department of Health will expand operations to six days a week at its Annapolis and Prince George’s County COVID-19 testing sites. At-home rapid test kits will be made available at the State Center site in Baltimore city. Moreover, state health officials are distributing at-home rapid tests at BWI Airport and local health departments.
Last week, state health officials issued an order requiring hospitals to make all staffed bed capacity available and cut down on scheduling non-urgent medical surgeries that need an overnight stay if they reach 1,200 hospitalizations. If hospitalizations reach 1,500, hospitals are required to kick-start their pandemic plans.
The state has set up a surge operation center to handle a COVID-19 surge at hospitals, including the possible sudden influx of unvaccinated patients.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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