This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.
This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.
Several people who attended the Maryland Association of Counties conference in Ocean City last week have since tested positive for COVID-19, the association said Tuesday in a notice to the thousands of attendees.
Additionally, The Daily Record reported that at least four aides to Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) have tested positive for coronavirus, and that at least two of them attended the conference that drew more than 2,000 state and local elected officials, county employees, and state workers.
“Out of an abundance of caution, both the governor and lieutenant governor received COVID tests, which came back negative. All members of the governor’s staff are fully vaccinated,” spokeswoman Kata Hall told The Daily Record.
Masks were “strongly recommended” but not required at the convention itself, but policies were varied at after-hours fundraisers and receptions. In May, Hogan allowed a statewide mask mandate to lapse, and he’s encouraged vaccination as the best way to stop the spread of COVID.
But public health officials have voiced grave concerns about the delta variant of COVID-19, which is leading to a spike in cases nationwide. On Tuesday, there were 847 newly reported COVID cases in Maryland.
Hogan, who often travels with a small group of aides and advisers, attended multiple events in Worcester County last week. On Thursday, he attended a Change Maryland fundraiser at Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel and an outdoor cocktail reception at Ropewalk Ocean City later that evening.
On Friday, he held a press conference announcing a broadband initiative at the Snow Hill Old Fire Hall and toured businesses and a vaccination clinic in the town, before walking the Ocean City Boardwalk. He also toured the conference’s indoor exhibition hall and took photos at the outdoor tented crab feast on Friday.
It was unknown Tuesday how much interaction Hogan had with members of his staff who tested positive. Hogan’s staff did not immediately respond to emails from Maryland Matters.
On Sunday, Hogan, a cancer survivor, announced that he had received a third COVID vaccine shot after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended boosters for some immunocompromised people.
Michael Sanderson, executive director of MACo, said late Tuesday evening that he did not have an exact figure of potential positive cases, but was aware of and was responding to media reports of the infections among the governor’s staff.
Hall told The Daily Record that “all testing, notification, and quarantining protocols have been followed, in accordance with CDC guidance, and contact tracing is underway.”
