Gov. Hogan Stresses Fight Against Coronavirus Is 'Far From Over,' As Maryland Continues To Ramp Up Testing
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) — As the state continues to announce further COVID-19 testing efforts in its jurisdictions, Marylanders now have 215 testing site options, the governor announced Monday.
Baltimore City and Talbot County have officially met the state's goal of testing 10 percent of each jurisdiction's populations.
Gov. Larry Hogan's office released a statement Monday morning saying the state completed 12,586 tests in the past 24 hours, its fifth-highest total during the coronavirus pandemic.
"I want to continue to stress to all Marylanders that the fight against this virus is far from over," said Governor Hogan. "While our numbers continue to trend in a positive direction, we are seeing rapidly rising case numbers in states all across the country—and even on the other side of our state border in some nearby communities. It is vital that Marylanders remain vigilant, wear face coverings, wash their hands, and practice physical distancing so that we can continue on our road to recovery."
The governor added testing sites are up "more than double from a month ago,"
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The state has administered a total of 644,026 tests, with 462,059 testing negative.
Baltimore City became the seventh jurisdiction to meet the statewide goal of testing 10 percent of the population on Sunday, and earlier Monday morning Talbot County became the eighth to meet the goal.
He also announced expanded testing in Anne Arundel County to aid in their testing efforts. They are currently the only of the state's five largest jurisdictions that has tested less than eight percent of the population- currently at seven percent testing rate.
"The state has, and will continue to have, an abundant supply of testing available at no out-of-pocket cost to anyone who needs to be tested," said Governor Hogan. "I want to congratulate Talbot County leaders and health officials on becoming our eighth jurisdiction to test 10% of their population. To supplement Anne Arundel County's efforts, we are announcing expanded, appointment-free testing at the Glen Burnie VEIP site beginning this Wednesday. We will continue to adapt and expand testing capacity across the state as needed."
He said with rapidly rising case numbers in states across the country, it is "vital that Marylanders remain vigilant,"
To learn more about COVID-19 testing and view an interactive map of testing sites, visit https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/symptoms-testing.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
