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Coronavirus Latest: Hogan Freezing Spending, Hiring Across State, Trying To Get More Tests

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- As the number of cases of coronavirus in Maryland reached nearly 7,000, Gov. Larry Hogan addressed residents Friday on how officials are combating the pandemic.

Hogan said there are nearly 13,000 cases of COVID-19 in the National Capital Region and more than 300 deaths.

The strike teams working to slow the spread at Maryland's 90 nursing homes with reported cases will now also work with assisted living facilities and group homes with at-risk children. He said those teams have already begun their work.

"The strike teams have already been activated and have responded to situations in nine nursing homes across the state. They have also been deployed to 15 group homes for medically-fragile children," Hogan said." And we are further expanding the reach of these strike teams to be able to assist assisted living facilities as well."

Nearly 7K COVID-19 Cases, 171 Deaths Reported In Maryland

BUDGET & HIRING FREEZE

The state is issuing budget and hiring freeze across the state, excluding items related to COVID-19.

"This will include cuts to so-called mandated spending a few days ago, we received 679 pieces of new legislation," Hogan said. " I want to be clear that it is very unlikely that any bills that require increased spending will be signed into law."

The announcement came hours after Comptroller Peter Franchot said the state could face a $2.8 billion budget shortfall due to COVID-19.

MORE TESTING

Hogan said the state has been trying to be more aggressive with testing.

"We have increased testing at our state lab, and private labs across the country have been steadily increasing their capacity and output," Hogan said.

"We've been very aggressively working to acquire more testing kits, not only from our federal partners but from every private sector company across America and from other companies around the globe," Hogan said.

UNEMPLOYMENT ISSUES

"In addition to defeating this invisible enemy, this killer virus and saving thousands of lives, there is nothing more important to me than getting our economy and our people back on their feet," Hogan said.

The Maryland Department of Labor reported that more than 108,000 new unemployment insurance claims have been filed in just the last a month and over 240,000 Marylanders have filed for unemployment benefits so far, more than the state received in all of 2019.

"These are not just numbers," Hogan said. "Each one of these is a struggling Marylander, who is experiencing real economic hardship right now."

Hogan said they are bringing in people from other agencies to assist the state's Department of Labor with helping Marylanders trying to file for unemployment, calling it "unacceptable" that residents are having issues with the system.

The state's labor secretary Tiffany Robinson said her department is working to make sure every Marylander who needs to file for unemployment can do so.

Robinson urged those in need to file online and to try to file in off-peak hours, like early in the morning and later in the evening.

After the holiday weekend, the labor department will offer additional hours on Saturday to help serve customers.

The state is also reassigning more than 100 state employees to help with residents file for unemployment.

Despite the volume of claims, Marylanders will receive their first payment within 21 days. The payment will come on a card and include all back payments. They are hoping to get benefits paid even faster.

The state will also begin to implement the new federal pandemic unemployment compensation, meaning any Marylander eligible for benefits, will receive an additional $600 per week starting the week ending on April 4. The state is rolling this out next week.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

HOLY WEEK

Hogan also said that although it's Holy Week, people should not gather to celebrate even though it might be hard.

He got emotional talking about how he too will miss celebrating Easter with his children and grandchildren.

"I will miss sharing Easter with my kids and grandkids. Seeing them on for Easter eggs," he said. "I particularly will miss not eating all of their Easter candy."

He also deemed the Easter Bunny an essential worker and said Maryland children can still expect baskets from the bunny.

The governor asked Marylanders, regardless of faith, to reflect of the spirit of hope.

"Easter really is a day of hope, which is something that all of us could desperately use right now," he said. "So this weekend, I asked all Marylanders regardless of their faith to reflect on that spirit of hope and to carry it forward during these difficult days and weeks ahead."

SCHOOLS

Hogan said that the school superintendent hasn't made an official decision yet on the closure of the schools past April 24 yet in Maryland.

VOTING

The governor also urged any Marylander who can vote by mail to vote by mail, but that they will have some in-person options available for the June 2 primary election. He said that for those that must vote in-person should expect strict social distancing guidelines.

For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.

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