Maryland buys 500,000 masks from South Korea

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By Donna Baeck

Gov. Larry Hogan announced on Monday at a news conference that he and his wife, Yumi, were able to negotiate with South Korean suppliers in order to buy 500,000 COVID-19 testing kits for Maryland, according to the Washington Post.

The United States is facing a massive shortage in testing kits as the number of COVID-19 patients continue to rise. Hogan criticized President Trump's statement that states already had enough tests and began negotiations with South Korean officials to obtain testing kits, according to the New York Times.

"We can't open up our states without ramping up testing," Mr. Hogan said.

The New York Times reported Yumi Hogan, a Korean immigrant who speaks fluent Korean, communicated with two South Korean labs to sell Maryland the tests and secure the final deal.

"Luckily we had a very strong relationship with Korea," Mr. Hogan said. "But is should not have been this difficult."

On Saturday, a Korean air flight delivered 5,000 testing kits to Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Officials said this would give the state the ability to make 500,000 new tests, according to the New York Times.

The Washington Post reported Mr. Hogan plans to double Maryland's daily testing to 20,000 and the state will need other supplies like swabs and reagents.

Hogan considered several South Korean vendors for the new testing kits, and the state chose LabGenomics, according to the New York Times.

"I was frosted because my team was saying that the F.D.A approval was going to hold it up," Mr. Hogan said. "I didn't care and was going to get the tests anyway."



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