Maryland governor tests positive for coronavirus

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€”  Maryland’s governor announced Monday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus, but is feeling fine at the moment.

Gov. Larry Hogan tweeted that he received a positive rapid test Monday morning as part of his regular testing routine. Hogan, a cancer survivor, said he has been vaccinated and has had a booster shot.

Over the summer, members of Hogan’s staff tested positive, but Hogan and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford tested negative.

“As the Omicron variant becomes dominant, I want to urge you to get vaccinated or get your booster shot as soon as possible,� Hogan tweeted.

Hogan said Sunday on “Fox News Sunday� that he is not planning to issue any new lockdown orders despite his concerns about a surge in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. Hospitalizations in Maryland have risen by about 150% over the past two weeks, he said. The Republican governor said the state is trying to provide more support for hospitals and pushing to get more residents vaccinated amid the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus.

“We are anticipating over the next three to five weeks probably the worst surge we’ve seen in our hospitals throughout the entire crisis, but we don’t expect it to last for long. We’re hoping it starts to taper off fairly quickly, but we’re facing a pretty rough time,� Hogan said.

Maryland resumed reporting coronavirus case and positivity data on Monday, more than two weeks after the state’s health department took down servers amid a cyberattack. Since Dec. 3, more than 28,500 people tested positive in Maryland, bringing the state’s case total to 621,220, and the seven-day average testing positivity rate has nearly doubled from about 5.4% to 10.3%, officials said Monday. The state resumed reporting vaccination and hospitalization data a few days after the attack. Officials reported Monday that hospitalizations reached 1,345, more than twice the number a month earlier.