MD Governor Larry Hogan Press Conference Transcript December 17

Governor Larry Hogan: (00:02)
Good evening. Joining me today are Transportation Secretary Greg Slater and Dr. [inaudible 00:00:10] from the Maryland Department of Health.

We find ourselves at another pivotal moment in our battle against COVID-19. A few weeks ago, just before Thanksgiving, after taking a series of additional statewide mitigation actions, and initiating a comprehensive response to prepare our hospitals for this surge, we made a strong plea to Marylanders, asking them to keep on doing the things that helped to keep us safe and to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Once again, Marylanders really stepped up to meet the moment, getting tested in record numbers, diligently wearing masks, canceling travel to stay home with their families, and following all of the existing orders and public health guidance. As a result, the post Thanksgiving surge has not materialized in Maryland, to the extent that public health officials predicted, and did not rise to the levels that it has in most other states.

Our total increase in cases this week was just 3%. at 7.73%, our statewide positivity rate is the eighth lowest in America. And at 45.2, our case rate is the ninth lowest. Our metrics are relatively stable, but community transmission does continue to have an impact, and things can change rapidly if we do not keep doing the things that keep us safe. Our hospitalizations decreased today by 60. Acute beds are down by 55. ICU beds are down by five, and we have experienced no percentage change in hospital admissions over the past two weeks.

Our strongest defense against this virus continues to be the cooperation and vigilance of the people of Maryland. However, this holiday season could present perhaps our toughest challenge yet. It is during this time of year that so many of us typically make plans to travel, to visit family and loved ones, and we all look forward to hosting or attending family gatherings and holiday parties. Unfortunately, these are the very things that contact tracing consistently shows are the most dangerous things we can do. After doing so well for so long, we simply cannot afford to let our guard down over the holidays during this very critical time.

So our message today is simple. You are safer at home for the holidays this year. Making difficult sacrifices during these next few weeks will absolutely help to keep your family, loved ones, and your fellow Marylanders safe. It will help our hospitals keep up with the demand, and it will save lives. So our theme is home for the holidays. We do want families to celebrate and enjoy the holidays in ways that keep them safe.

Today, the Maryland Department of Health is issuing a public health advisory, which lowers the gathering limit from 25 to 10. They are also advising Marylanders against all nonessential activities and holiday gatherings with people outside of your immediate household. Today, I am issuing an emergency order, which requires limiting travel to essential purposes only. Marylanders who do travel outside of Maryland or individuals who do travel to our state will be required to obtain a negative COVID-19 test result or to self quarantine for 10 days. With testing so widely available to anyone throughout Maryland, this is easier than ever before. To find out where you can get tested, go to covidtest.maryland. gov.

The state of Maryland has instituted mandatory telework for all state employees who are able. And beginning Monday, December 21st, we will be temporarily suspending all in-person customer facing operations at state facilities for the next two weeks. We are encouraging businesses that are able to also institute telework policies and to limit in person interactions as much as possible. The greatest risk of exposure to the virus is by being within just six feet of someone for more than 15 minutes.

For the kids out there who may be concerned, I have important good news. Today I have issued a very special emergency order, which exempts the one true Santa Claus, who resides at the North Pole, all nonhuman elves affiliated with Santa, and the reindeer necessary for the propulsion of Santa’s sleigh, from any and all travel testing and quarantine requirements. According to Dr. Fauci, who I was on a Zoom with earlier this afternoon, “Santa Claus has a lot of good innate immunity from COVID-19.” And so due to this immunity, it is unnecessary for Santa and his affiliated elves and reindeer to comply with the public health orders. Santa says he will be wearing his mask, and he asked me to remind all the kids out there to please remember to leave the milk and cookies out, as always.

We begin this week with a Ray of hope, as we began the first COVID 19 vaccinations in the state of Maryland. In the coming weeks, all of our frontline healthcare workers, the residents and staff of our nursing homes, and our first responders will begin to receive vaccinations. We can also find hope in the fact that after eight long months, that we have been pushing and urging leaders in Washington to act, that Congress is finally putting aside partisan politics to reach a bipartisan consensus on a federal relief package, to extend vital federal Cares Act programs that help struggling families and small businesses. We are only close to this happening because a small group of Republicans and Democrats, including the leaders of the Problem Solvers Caucus and No Labels, were willing to do the hard work of reaching across the aisle to find common ground. They are showing what real bipartisan leadership looks like.

We are disappointed that this compromise appears to be leaving out support for state and local governments, which will continue to be desperately needed as we continue to battle on the front lines. But as I have repeatedly said, with so many people hurting, something, even if it is only a short term solution, is certainly better than doing nothing. In the new year, I’m going to keep fighting for the Congress to come back in January and deliver a full relief package, which the people of Maryland and the nation desperately need. This compromise will provide some short-term relief that will help many of our struggling families and small businesses over the next few months.

The state of Maryland has already provided $500 million in emergency a state economic relief. And we will continue to take every action we can at the state level to help those most in need. Today, I am announcing an additional $180 million in immediate emergency economic relief to help those families and small businesses that are being hardest hit. This new economic relief includes $50 million from our dedicated emergency rapid response fund-

Dollars from our dedicated emergency rapid response fund to help hotels, motels, and hospitality businesses across the state. This sector was among the first to suffer and will be among the last to recover from the crisis. According to recent projections, 71% of hotels will not last more than six months at current projected revenue and occupancy levels. This $50 million in relief will be distributed by local jurisdictions to go towards payroll expenses, to keep people employed and to assist with rent and utilities in order to help keep operations going while travel is restricted.

We are also providing another traunch of $30 million to add to our successful relief program for restaurants, bringing that fund to $80 million dollars. We will be pressing the county governments to immediately distribute this money to those small businesses that are most in need, and once again, we are calling on the county governments to match this state investment in order to we help our struggling small businesses and restaurants, help them make it through the winter, and to keep as many people on the payroll as they possibly can.

Today we are providing another $15 million in assistance to entertainment venues through our successful main street program at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, bringing that total to $35 million. And as part of a new relief initiative, we are providing another $5 million help socially or economically disadvantaged businesses specifically in our rural counties. Today we are also announcing $40 million to provide a boost to the temporary cash assistance benefits over each of the next six months. This will help more than 66,000 Maryland families that are really struggling right now to make ends meet. And we will also be providing $40 million to the developmental disability care providers by accelerating their 4% increase to begin on January 1st, which is six months ahead of schedule. More than 17,000 Marylanders benefit from these critical services. With the actions we’re taking today, we are providing a total of more than $600 million in emergency economic relief for the state. When the legislature returns to work next month for the 2021 session, we will be proposing a much larger economic and stimulus relief package which will provide further support for our struggling families and small businesses.

In addition to the actions that we are taking, there are things that you can all do to help your fellow citizens. Support your local restaurants as much as you can by utilizing carry out or delivery. Give to a local charity, nonprofit or food bank, and do your holiday shopping at small mom and pop businesses, even maybe utilizing curbside pickup. This is the season of giving so please do whatever you can to help support our Maryland small businesses.

During Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, we celebrate the victory of hope over fear and light over darkness. In the Christian faith, the Christmas season is a time of great joy and anticipation as we await the birth of Jesus. This year, I’m reminded of a line from the song Oh Holy Night, “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.” This has been an incredibly long and very difficult year for each and every one of us, and we’re all weary and we’re ready to put 2020 behind us. But during this holiday season, regardless of your faith, let’s all reflect on a spirit of hope that more vaccines are on the way, that more economic relief is coming to those who need it, and that victory over this deadly virus truly is on the horizon. With your help and with your continued vigilance now and into the new year, we can all be hopeful and set our sights on a better, healthier, happier, and more prosperous 2021.

At this time, I’m going to turn it over to Transportation Secretary Greg Slater. Yesterday was a busy day for the Secretary who oversaw the statewide response to our first winter storm of the year, and testified before the Board of Public Works as we advanced an agreement for the completion of the purple line which he and his team did an incredible job on. And yesterday I joined Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for a video conference to discuss our regional response to COVID-19, and following up from that discussion earlier today, the three of us send a joint to President-elect and his transportation team urging them to provide increased federal support for Metro.

So I think Secretary Slater, this week, is one year on the job and I want to thank him for his incredible leadership on all of these issues, and I’m going to ask him to provide some details on travel safety this holiday season.

Secretary Greg Slater: (15:25)
Thank you, Governor. You can’t tell from here in Annapolis, but yesterday we saw the biggest snow storm to hit our region in recent years, and our crews were out there responding on roads, bridges, runways, and transit lines all across our transportation network. I’d like to thank the public for truly staying home and allowing us to do that work. Because of COVID, the complexities of fighting this storm were very different than what we’ve done before. We had to make sure our teams were following our proper training and protocols that we’ve had in place for months, but also specific measures associated with fighting a winter storm. We couldn’t have more than one person in the cab of a truck. We had to spread out bunking areas for the men and women that were working all night in different parts of the buildings than we ever had before. We had to do enhanced cleaning in between every driver change in our vehicles, and we had to make sure that face coverings and distancing were taking place at every step of fighting this storm.

The effects of COVID-19 have been unprecedented, touching every aspect of life in Maryland. For me, it has also shown the tremendous resiliency of more than 10,000 MDOT employees, our contractors and our partners, who keep Marylanders moving every day. Throughout the pandemic, our transit operators, our mechanics, our crews along the roadways have helped essential workers and healthcare professionals report to duty every day. At the same time, the Port of Baltimore and BWI Marshall Airport have kept that critical supply chain open. Year over year, in fact, our container volumes today at the Port of Baltimore are up nearly 14% compared to last year, and at BWI Marshall airport, we’ve issued over 1600 new badges for new jobs in the private sector through our operations in our supply chain. So I’ll say, if you’ve gotten a package over this holiday season, it has more than likely come through the Port of Baltimore or BWI Marshall Airport.

Our MVA workers have provided key services to keep our truck drivers on the road, and crews across MDOT and our own employees and contractors have advanced and completed really critical projects during this pandemic. It’s truly a team effort. And like they do in the kind of weather we saw yesterday, our MDOT team showed up when Maryland needed us the most, immediately adjusting our practices to safe practices. Some of the accomplishments, including completing the Bay Bridge re-decking westbound a year ahead of schedule, we were running shuttles for essential workers in hospitals, we were using our state highway crews to deliver PPE with the Department of Health and testing equipment, we completed some construction projects like Watkins Mill Road, we started the Nice Middleton Bridge, Maryland-

Like Watkins Mill road. We started the nice Middleton Bridge, Maryland 180 and Frederick. We transport more than 100,000 members of our central workforce in Baltimore’s core bus system every day. We’ve responded to 31,000 incidents on our roadways so far this year, including 500 in the last two days in this winter storm.

I’m especially proud of the purple line agreement with our partners, approved just yesterday with the Board of Public Works. Thanks to Governor Hogan for his help in every step of the way. We’ve taken that next major step in getting that critical transit project delivered.

But while navigating this pandemic, MDOT has had to adjust the way we work. We’ve had to take precautions to keep our crews, our contractors, and you, our public, safe. While a significant amount of our workforce is teleworking, you can’t run a transportation work force without frontline workers who are critical in keeping that system running.

We’d been providing frontline employees with face coverings and hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes and gloves, while building plexiglass screens and barriers in place, where our employees are in contact with the public or each other. Our facilities have had to go constant, enhanced cleaning and disinfecting, while we provide screening for everyone of our employees and our customers and visitors.

But because of the work that we do every day is truly essential, we can’t be safe unless you stay safe, unless our traveling public stays safe. As COVID-19 is picking up, we join Governor Hogan in asking all Marylanders to stay home for the holidays. If you don’t have to travel, please don’t. That’s a bit of a different message than we’ve done in DOT in the past. If you don’t have to travel, please don’t. This holiday season, please give the gift of good health by avoiding non-essential travel, to help stop the spread of COVID-19, and to protect you and your families. Simply put, don’t travel unless necessary.

We’ll be sharing that message on our highway overhead signs, our transit stations, and at BWI Marshall airport. You’ll see these flyers everywhere. You’ll see these visual aids everywhere about giving the gift of good health during this pandemic and keeping your guard up, so the cases stay down.

So please know if you must travel, our team will be ready. Here are some reminders that will help keep you safe. Out on the road, our chart vehicles and our emergency response technicians will be out patrolling to help motorists with breakdowns and emergencies. If you must fly, remember the terminal at BWI Marshall airport is open only to ticketed passengers and employees, and you must wear a face covering within the airport, but passengers can get a free mask at airport information desks or through airport concessions. For those using transit, remember, you must wear a face covering. We ask riders to maintain social distancing. We have shields in place between bus operators and riders, and all of our operators are wearing face coverings.

With the governor’s announcement about closing public facing government operations, MDOT will be closing our easy pass customer service centers, our MTA transit store, and our reduced fare certification office in all MVA branches, to limit the amount of in-person interaction. We encourage our customers to take advantage of our online services that are available from the comfort and safety of your own home at mva.maryland.gov or at easypassmaryland.com and at mta.maryland.gov/coronavirus.

For our MTA customers, the reduced fare certifications that are due to expire during this time will continue to be honored. Our customers can purchase senior or disability monthly passes online through our website, and our regular transit fares can be purchased through our CharmPass, our mobile transit fare app, or from a ticket vending location at one of our light rail or metro stations. For our MVA customers, we will be reaching out to reschedule those appointments very quickly and efficiently for you.

So we appreciate our customers understanding that at the end of the day, the safest place to be this holiday season is home for the holidays. And again, we at MDOT can’t stay safe unless you stay safe. We have to interact with you to run this supply chain and the best gift you can give our loved ones in 2020 is a safe and healthy start to 2021. Thank you.

Thank you, Greg. Be happy to take some questions.

Speaker 1: (22:28)
Governor, yesterday the [inaudible 00:22:30] restrictions on [inaudible 00:22:36] do you have concerns that that order [inaudible 00:22:41] limit in any way your ability to impose additional restrictions or handcuff locals in imposing [inaudible 00:22:48]?

I think the judge actually said that he didn’t follow the same protocols we did. And he specifically said that the state orders were in order. And I think his thoughts were that perhaps he acted arbitrarily with the actions that he took.

Speaker 2: (23:10)
[inaudible 00:23:10]

Sure. Well, we haven’t got a lot of information on that yet. We just heard some of this today, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it. It is not apparently going to impact our first batches for the first week or two, which the only ones that were really cast in stone. The federal government said we anticipate getting 300,000 by the end of the year. Hopefully that’s still going to be the case, between the two companies. It’s not going to impact the first 155,000, only 50,000 of which are from Pfizer, which we’ve already received. But we’re trying to figure out the details of it. Basically, they did tell us while these were projections, that every Friday they would give us a confirmation after talking with the producers of what was going to be shipped the following Monday, that week.

So tomorrow we may have more information, but I don’t think it’s impacting our first shipments, and hopefully will not have a big impact on the second round, but the federal government is going to be updating us weekly, as they get updates from the manufacturers.

Speaker 3: (24:25)
Governor [inaudible 00:24:26] they apparently did not get, [inaudible 00:24:30] did not get any vaccines.

Every single hospital in the state and every single region and every single nursing home will have them by next week.

Speaker 3: (24:38)
When will they get theirs out there [crosstalk 00:00:24:41].

I don’t think the weather’s going to affect us. And they go directly from the federal government to the hospitals. We don’t touch them, and they will be getting theirs next week.

Speaker 4: (24:56)
Governor, you mentioned that you [inaudible 00:25:00] coordinated effort [inaudible 00:25:01] a little bit more about that?

Yeah, we, we have these meetings periodically because it’s important, we think, to know. We’re so interconnected in the Washington region, in between the three states, people living in one jurisdiction, working in another, back and forth. And the one thing we reached agreement on, both Governor Northam and I are providing vaccines to the District of Columbia, who did not receive enough to handle their healthcare workers that actually are residents of our state. So we provided 8,000 to them, just for Maryland residents who work in the DC hospitals, and Virginia did the same.

A big part of our conversation was about [inaudible 00:25:44] and the additional $500 million shortfall, and how we’re going to work with the new administration about trying to get some federal help, which we think would be greatly needed. And we did. Each of us went through the actions we currently had in place and things that we were considering. We’re all pretty much in alignment. Everybody has little different nuances here and there, but I don’t think anybody’s too different from the other.

Brad: (26:18)
Governor, a couple questions. First, travel order. DC, Virginia, cross the line in Pennsylvania, the ski slopes are opening this weekend.

Yeah. And it doesn’t, it doesn’t impact people that are driving to and from the states in the region. We’re talking about flying out of state or traveling to places that are outside of our region. Obviously, we have hundreds of thousands of people that travel every day from Maryland to DC and back again, same thing with Virginia.

Speaker 5: (26:45)
Governor, I know [crosstalk 00:08:47].

Sorry. I’ll come back to you [inaudible 00:26:48] I promise [crosstalk 00:26:49]

Speaker 5: (26:52)
I know the [inaudible 00:26:53] advisory committee would like to [inaudible 00:26:56] Pfizer vaccine, they approved it, while we were sitting in this room waiting. And I know if this was anticipated, as you mentioned it as well, Dr. [inaudible 00:27:03] but-

Speaker 5: (27:03)
… if this was anticipated. You mentioned it as well, Dr. Chan. But was there a sense of relief or a sense of hope when you heard that they gave the green light to this, recommended it for emergency use, just now?

Yeah. I mean, we’re obviously thrilled. I think we all expected it. As I said, I was on a call with Anthony Fauci earlier today. I spoke to Stephen Hahn, the FDA commissioner, a couple days ago. And it is a relief. I mean, we expected it, but it’s always good to finally get a decision, and it just means more help is on the way. Brad? I’m sorry.

Brad: (27:35)
So $108 million is going out now to businesses, and that sort of thing. In recent days, recent weeks, we’ve really started pushing about the override of the Digital Tax veto. What are your thoughts about that? That could be happening in the next few weeks in the legislature.

Well, I’ll tell you, the last thing that we need right now, in the middle of this economic crisis with so many small business owners and so many individuals suffering, is to increase taxes on them. I mean, we’re trying to provide relief to keep them in business and then to charge a new tax, to try to put them out of business. It just makes no sense whatsoever. So we’re going to be doing everything we can to convince our friends in the legislature, that they should not override the veto and that they should not impose a new tax in the middle of a pandemic of any kind.

Speaker 1: (28:27)
Governor, how will the state be reaching out [inaudible 00:28:29] on behalf of the state to reach populations in western Maryland, or urban populations who don’t have a lot of access to technology who need to hear about the vaccine, the vaccines, in order to perhaps get them, and not be hesitant about taking the vaccines.

Well, maybe Dr. Chan can talk about that. We’re going to have a very aggressive outreach and marketing campaign, and we’ve had numerous discussions with all of the local elected officials and the legislators from that area. We’re going to continue to talk with them on nearly a weekly basis. And I think we’re going to do everything we can to get the message out in every single corner of the state.

I don’t know if you have anything to add about that.

Dr. Jinlene Chan: (29:15)
Thank you for that question. And the governor covered exactly the approach that we’re taking. We’re also engaging with community organizations and community leaders all across the state to assist. They’re providing input now in terms of how we should roll out our campaign, and what kind of messages, and we’re taking that input very seriously. We’re not doing it alone by any means. We’re really engaging with as many partners as we can across the state.

Speaker 5: (29:43)
Dr. Sanchez, you’re there. I just wanted to ask, I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but I just heard today that some assisted living facilities are not… telling me they’re not authorized to receive and administer the vaccine. Is that a health order that’ll be on the way when this rolls out to these facilities?

So, you know, we have engaged as many of the nursing homes and assisted livings as we can in that federal pharmacy program. So it’s not necessarily an authorization for them to receive the vaccine. This is help that the federal government is providing to all the states and Maryland is taking advantage of it. And, as we’ve mentioned, has activated that program to start with nursing homes.

Speaker 5: (30:27)
And when you say it’ll be beginning through the next two weeks, does that mean every-

Not assisted living-

Nursing homes.

Speaker 5: (30:35)
Nursing home. It’s separate from… I do tend to… To long-term care. [crosstalk 00:30:43]

Sorry. The very first ones are our hospital front, just the most important front line providers in our hospitals, and our residents and staff at nursing homes. Also in our number one category will include other long-term care facilities, including assisted living. But that is not in this first batch because we’re not even getting to that 1A category. And assisted living are not in as a vulnerable position as they are in nursing homes, where they’ve got underlying health conditions. That’s where 52% of our deaths have been. It’s where the most vulnerable are, but we’re definitely going to include other long-term care facilities as we get to work our way down the list. And they’re next in line after this first round.

Speaker 1: (31:26)
Governor, how will the state enforce these travel… tests and quarantines for people traveling during the holidays?

We’re not going to be out there checking people or having law enforcement come after people for traveling. We’re just going to rely on the good faith of the people that are going to listen to these orders, because they’re critically important to keeping people alive. And we’re going to try and ensure as much compliance as we can and just get people to cooperate.

Speaker 6: (32:02)
Governor, your Facebook page is a little feisty today. [inaudible 00:32:03] Who got ahold of that?

It was me actually, look… First of all, it’s very unusual. I mean, I do try to engage with people as they ask questions or express themselves. And quite frankly, after nine months of working day and night, seven days a week, I woke up at 3:00 this morning, and I get people that are spewing kind of angry, hateful things every day, all day on Facebook. And I just said something about, I’m tired of stupid comments, you know? So I didn’t really direct. I didn’t call anybody any bad things, but I was frustrated with stupid comments, but I probably shouldn’t have used that language.

Speaker 6: (32:51)
Were you also responsible for the message that a [inaudible 00:32:54] person was told that, if he didn’t like- [crosstalk 00:32:55]

Absolutely. Yeah. People repeatedly say, “we’re sick and tired of hearing from you, we don’t want to listen to anything you have to say.” So I very politely said, “You know, if you just unlike my page, you won’t have to listen to anything I say.” I thought it was appropriate.

Speaker 5: (33:10)
There was as simple… It was fairly easy. You don’t have to listen to me anymore.

Speaker 6: (33:14)
Governor, I noticed that underneath of your mask Thursday, a bandage.

You should see the other guy. Yeah. That was very observant of you. I went to the dermatologist and had just that little minor thing to burn some stuff off and I looked kind of ugly, but I’m also being safe. So there is a little bandaid here, but nothing serious.

Speaker 6: (33:35)
An additional skin cancer treatment, sir?

No, not skin cancer. Those of us who were old and spent a lot of time in the sun, just get precancerous things that they just kind of freeze off. Yeah.

Speaker 7: (33:48)
Thank you. Happy holidays.

MD Governor Larry Hogan Press Conference Transcript December 17

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