He also signed a pair of executive orders: The first empowers the Maryland Department of Health to regulate hospital resources and staffing, while the second activates 1,000 Maryland National Guard members to help with Emergency Medical Services.
“While we can’t manufacture doctors and nurses who don’t exist, we have continued to do everything we possibly can do at the state level in order to help our hospitals withstand this surge,” Hogan said during a public address on Jan. 4.
Governor Hogan says hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have increased by more than 500% over the past seven weeks and have hit a new peak of 3,057. He says that number could even go beyond 5,000 in the weeks ahead.
The Maryland Hospital Association had previously called for the state to issue a limited public health emergency because their workforce has been stretched to the limit.
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