Gov: Maryland 'not out of the woods' as COVID-19 metrics decline

Gov. Larry Hogan said he is hopeful that Maryland's COVID-19 state of emergency will no longer be needed after its 15 remaining days. On Jan. 4, the governor issued a 30-day state of emergency to take urgent short-term actions to combat the current crisis. He also issued two executive orders to address hospital staffing and supplies and another to augment the EMS workforce and mobilize the Maryland National Guard to assist local health officials with the emergency pandemic response. The governor said several COVID-19 metrics are trending downward but that the omicron variant still accounts for more than 95% of Maryland's recent lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases.