Hogan Tests Positive for COVID-19; State Dashboard Shows Dramatic Increase in Cases After Data Blackout Ends

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include updated COVID-19 transmission and testing data after parts of the state’s COVID-19 dashboard were updated Monday afternoon, and to include additional details about the governor’s positive test result. 

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) tweeted Monday morning that he’s tested positive for COVID-19.

The governor, who is vaccinated and boosted, tweeted that he was “feeling fine at the moment.” He encouraged others to get initial vaccinations or booster shots as soon as they are able to.

Hogan’s rapid test result was one of the only publicly known current COVID cases in the state on Monday morning.

Around 1:30 p.m., the Maryland Department of Health resumed reporting on COVID-19 case rates and testing results for the first time since a cyberattack on Dec. 4.

The updated data showed that the state has seen an increase of 28,541 cases since Dec. 3.

During the same time frame, the statewide seven-day average testing positivity rate nearly doubled from 5.43% on Dec. 3 to 10.27%.

Information on COVID-related deaths since Dec. 4 was not updated on Monday; there have been more than 11,000 confirmed deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Throughout much of the data blackout, the state had continued to release hospitalization and vaccination data. On Sunday, there were 1,345 currently hospitalized COVID patients, including 301 people in intensive care units. The number of hospitalizations has increased dramatically since Nov. 1, when 568 people were hospitalized with COVID.

On Friday, hospitals in the state began to suspend some elective surgeries that require an overnight stay to deal with overcrowding; if the state’s hospitalizations surpass 1,500, additional policies to free up bed space will go into effect.

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Hogan said his administration is focusing on COVID hospitalization and death rates.

“We’ve got hospitalizations up about 150% over the past two weeks, and we’re taking steps to provide more support for our hospitals, and we’re putting more into testing,” Hogan told anchor Bret Baier on a broadcast that aired Sunday morning.

The governor also said he was anticipating “probably the worst surge we’ve seen in our hospitals throughout the entire crisis” as a result of the omicron variant that is believed to be rapidly spreading.

Hogan tweeted around 7:30 p.m. Monday that he’d received a positive PCR test result for COVID-19, following the positive rapid test that morning. “Thank you to everyone who reached out today with prayers and well wishes,” he tweeted.

The delta variant remains the most common in the state, according to Deputy Secretary for Public Health Dr. Jinlene Chan in a Monday afternoon statement.

Also during the Fox News appearance, Hogan slammed the decision by the Prince George’s County school board to shift back to virtual learning due to an increase in positive tests. The governor said he has no plans to reimpose pandemic lockdowns amid concerns over surging infection rates.

The Maryland Department of Health security breach involved “unauthorized activity involving multiple network infrastructure systems” and “servers were taken offline to protect the network,” according to the agency.

A statement on the Department of Health website said there is “no evidence that any data was compromised.”

The state has also said it is “actively engaged with both state and federal law enforcement partners as part of an ongoing criminal investigation” related to the network breach.

Maryland Matters’ news partner WTOP contributed to this report. Click here for the WTOP News website.

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