HOGAN DECLARES NEW STATE OF EMERGENCY: As patient volumes surge at Maryland hospitals amid soaring COVID-19 infections statewide, Gov. Larry Hogan implemented a temporary state of emergency Tuesday as well as other executive orders designed to give the state government more powers and tools to combat the health crisis. Hallie Miller and Bryn Stole/The Baltimore Sun.
- Hogan predicted that Maryland will see its “most challenging” phase of the pandemic yet in the next four to six weeks, with models projecting up to 5,000 people hospitalized for covid-19, an increase of up to 150 percent above the state’s peak levels last year. Ovetta Wiggins and Rebecca Tan/The Washington Post.
- The new order gives the state health secretary wider authority to limit elective surgeries at hospitals. A second order would allow the health secretary to authorize retired health care workers or those from out of state to return to work to ease staffing shortages. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
- Additionally, the governor announced that he has deployed 1,000 members of the Maryland National Guard to aid local health officials in testing and transporting patients. Hannah Gaskill/Maryland Matters.
- Although Hogan called vaccinations and face masks important tools for mitigating the COVID-19 crisis, he avoided instating any mandates. “It sometimes has an opposite effect,” Hogan said, dismissing the idea of a mask mandate. Marcus Dieterle/Baltimore Fishbowl.
- Hogan also called on the Biden administration to provide more information about the timeline for making 500 million rapid antigen tests available free to requesting Americans. But the administration said it will be weeks, if not months, before those tests are widely available. Mikenzie Frost/WBFF-TV.
- Here is the Hogan press conference on YouTube.
MORE THAN 300 B’MORE POLICE IN ISOLATION; SENIOR CENTERS SHUT: More than 300 Baltimore Police officers and other employees are quarantined because of COVID-19. Of those quarantined, 227 police personnel have tested positive and 78 are awaiting test results, spokeswoman Amanda Krotki said. That’s roughly 12% of the 2,500 member force. Jessica Anderson and Darcy Costello/The Baltimore Sun.
- Baltimore has shut down in-person activities at city-operated senior centers due to the worrying rise in COVID-19 cases, effective Tuesday. It comes as hospitalizations from COVID-19 in the state reach dizzying heights. Christine Condon/The Baltimore Sun.
MO CO SUSPENDS IN-PERSON LEARNING AT 11 SCHOOLS: With coronavirus cases surging, in-person learning was suspended Tuesday at 11 public schools in suburban Montgomery County, with another 89 schools at risk for similar action, in the district’s first significant detour from traditional instruction this school year. Donna St. George/The Washington Post.
- Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight said the schools had reached a threshold of more than 5% of “unrelated” students and staff members reporting positive coronavirus tests in the past two weeks. Caitlynn Peetz/Bethesda Beat.
MO CO COUNCIL EXTENDS MASK MANDATE: The Montgomery County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the indoor mask mandate for the rest of January, as the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have increased in recent weeks. Steve Bohnel/Bethesda Beat.
CARROLL COMMISSIONER BACKS AWAY FROM MASK LAWSUIT: After threatening earlier this week to file a lawsuit against his fellow Carroll County commissioners because of their decision to enact a mask mandate inside county buildings, Commissioner Eric Bouchat, R-District 2, backed down Tuesday once officials agreed to require all county business to be conducted online only in January. Madison Bateman/The Carroll County Times.
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ARUNDEL COUNCIL OKs TWO GUN-SAFETY BILLS: Two bills focused on reducing gun-related crimes and suicides in the county were passed into law Monday night by the Anne Arundel County Council. Dana Munro/The Capital Gazette.
HARFORD COUNCIL OVERRIDES GLASSMAN VETO OF REDISTRICTING MAP: The Harford County Council voted Tuesday to override County Executive Barry Glassman’s veto of the redistricting map passed by the council last month by a vote of 5-1, making its version of the map official by law. Jason Fontelieu/The Aegis.
KING TAPS HEAD OF LAW CENTER AS RUNNING MATE: Maryland candidate for governor John B. King has tapped Michelle Siri, the executive director of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland, to run for lieutenant governor together on a ticket later this year. Bryn Stole/The Baltimore Sun.
- Siri previously served as an assistant attorney general and chairwoman of the board of directors at Planned Parenthood of Maryland. King called her a “tireless champion for women” who has advocated for paid family leave, minimum wage, equal pay for equal work and bodily autonomy for women. Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
ICYMI: MARYLAND DEMS’ CHANCE TO RE-TAKE THE GOVERNORSHIP: Maryland could be the best opportunity for Democrats to flip a governorship anywhere in the country next year. But first, the party has to navigate a crowded, diverse and potentially expensive primary to find their nominee. Brakkton Booker and Zach Montellaro/Politico.
LOCAL CONGRESSMEN REFLECT ON THE INSURRECTION: Thursday marks one year since a mob supporting then-President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol as Congress was certifying the election of Joe Biden. Baltimore area congressmen who barricaded themselves and their staff in their offices to keep safe, are both optimistic and uncertain what the legacy of that day holds for the future of the republic. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
RASKIN’s LIFE-ALTERING TRAUMAS: In this 43-minute interview U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland reflects on his continuing efforts to understand two traumatic events in his life that occurred within days of each other: the death of his son by suicide after years of grappling with mental illness and the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol. He speaks about his new memoir, Unthinkable, about these events. Terry Gross/Fresh Air.
