Md. governor cites ‘encouraging numbers’ in starting to loosen restrictions; state cancels school through academic year

The chairs of the Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William county boards of supervisors sent Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) a letter Wednesday saying they wanted better communication with him and briefings prior to the governor’s future announcements related to reopening the state.

Northam said earlier Wednesday he would allow Northern Virginia to keep strict coronavirus restrictions in place as he eases standards statewide, but the letter seemed to indicate the governor had not consulted with Northern Virginia leaders before his announcement.

After announcing that Maryland’s schools would remain closed for the rest of this academic year, state schools Superintendent Karen B. Salmon said Wednesday the state now has a detailed plan about ways to reopen schools even before a vaccine allows for pre-pandemic normalcy.

Among other options, Salmon said students could alternate days or weeks in the classroom, with distance learning in place when students were at home. But she said return of students to in-person classroom instruction would be among the last things to occur, possibly in the last reopening phase — the one Gov. Larry Hogan (R) designated for large-scale gatherings such as sporting events and concerts.

Before Gov. Larry Hogan (R) relaxed his stay-at-home order Wednesday afternoon, Maryland had been one of three states to keep golf courses closed. Many Maryland golf courses had been frustrated watching their usual customers drive to play at open courses in bordering states.

Robert Sturges, owner of Worthington Manor in Urbana, sent an email about 90 minutes before the governor’s announcement Wednesday to a database of customers vowing to openly defy Hogan’s order and open the course Thursday.

Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday that drugmaker Gilead Sciences has donated 1,600 doses of the antiviral remdesivir, the only drug with federal approval to treat severe cases of covid-19, to Maryland.

The governor said he plans to send all of the doses to hard-hit Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, home to the state’s highest volume of cases.

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Blue Flame Medical, a firm created by two well-connected Republican operatives who started selling covid-19 supplies this spring as the virus spread across the country.

Prosecutors are focused on at least two contracts that the firm signed for medical masks and other equipment with Maryland and California, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter. Both states ultimately canceled those contracts.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is asking Washington to keep picking up the cost of the National Guard’s coronavirus work in Virginia.

Northam (D) highlighted the work of the state’s guardsmen at a Wednesday news briefing, noting that they have been involved in delivering and administering coronavirus tests, fitting N95 masks and distributing food at shelters. A group of guardsmen will conduct drive-through testing on the Eastern Shore on Friday and Saturday, when they hope to test up to 1,000 people a day.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday that some of the state’s harder-hit localities could keep stricter covid-19 restrictions in place even if he begins easing statewide standards at the end of next week.

Northam (D) announced Monday he would extend business and social restrictions that had been due to expire May 8 for another week, then move into “Phase One” of reopening the state’s economy if coronavirus hospitalizations, deaths and other data continue moving in the right direction.

The administration of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Rep. Andy Harris, the only Republican representing the state in Congress, clashed again Wednesday over when it’s safe to lift stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Harris, in a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, suggested that a nationwide education program on how to prevent the spread of the virus would be more effective in some areas, including his largely rural district, than relying on infection rates and contact tracing.