State secures corona virus tests from S. Korea. Maryland is getting hundreds of thousands of coronavirus test kits from South Korea, enabling the state to greatly ramp up its testing operation, thanks in part to the efforts of the state’s first lady, Yumi Hogan, Gov. Larry Hogan said Monday.
The supplies from LabGenomics, a South Korean company, will enable the state to administer 500,000 tests, according to the Hogan administration. The tests cost the state $9 million — a “worthwhile investment” given how much revenue the state is losing with so many businesses closed, Hogan said.
In the latest sign of frustration with the Trump administration, Hogan said his team worked to find and buy the tests in the absence of the federal government providing assistance to the states.
“The administration made it clear over and over again they want the states to take the lead and we have to go out and do it ourselves," Hogan said. “So, that’s exactly what we did.”
Hogan’s move negotiating directly with a foreign government drew the ire of Republican President Donald Trump, who has been seeking to defend his administration’s response to the pandemic while arguing the U.S. has plenty of testing resources.