Maryland acquires 500,000 COVID-19 tests from South Korea

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Governor Larry Hogan announced on Monday that the state has acquired 500,000 COVID-19 tests from LabGenomics.

Hogan says this effort began on March 28th, when he and the First Lady called Korea’s Ambassador to the U.S. This past Saturday, April 18th, Hogan and the First Lady welcomed a Korean Air plan carrying LabGun PCR test kits from LabGenomics at BWI Airport. It was the first-ever direct freight flight from Incheon Airport to BWI.

This 500,000 test capacity is roughly equal to the total amount of testing that has been completed by four of the top five states in the U.S. combined.

“As Maryland begins its reopening and recovery, Marylanders should feel confident in knowing that we have done everything in our power, gone to every length, and used every tool and every resource at our disposal to defeat this deadly virus,” Hogan said in a statement.

Hogan also said the state of Maryland owes an “incredible debt of gratitude” to South Korea for putting the state on track to achieve its goal of widespread testing, which is the most critical part of the state’s recovery plan as well as the reopening guidelines introduced by President Trump late last week.

Maryland has expanded testing capability by more than 5,000 percent, and has completed more than 71,000 tests to date. Last week, state officials secured an additional 40,000 tests, and the state investigation $2.5 million to help the lab handle up to 20,000 tests per day.