Gov. Larry Hogan is very protective of his state’s coronavirus tests.
The Republican has deployed the National Guard and state police to keep the federal government from seizing 500,000 COVID-19 tests he acquired from South Korea — and which are now being stored in secret.
“The National Guard and the State Police are both guarding these tests at an undisclosed location,” Hogan said Thursday during a live video interview with the Washington Post.
“There had been reports of, for example in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker told the story of his planeload … with masks was basically confiscated by the federal government,” Hogan added.
Hogan’s comments reference several reports that have circulated of FEMA either diverting coronavirus-related supplies that states had ordered or outbidding local officials at the last minute.
The governor said it took 22 days to navigate the bureaucracy and secure the half-million masks — and credited his wife, Yumi, who is Korean, for helping land the order.
Arrangements were made so that the Korean Air plane carrying the shipment would land in Baltimore-Washington International Airport — a first, according to Hogan — so that the cargo wouldn’t have to cross state borders.
“We landed it there with a large contingent of Maryland National Guard and Maryland State Police,” Hogan said. “Because this was an enormously valuable payload. It was like Fort Knox to us.
The National Guard is also helping distribute the tests, personal protective equipment and meals for those in need in a state where more than 21,700 coronavirus cases have been recorded and 1,140 have died due to their infection, Hogan said.
“These are citizen soldiers who are stepping up and helping their fellow citizens in need,” he added.