Washington, D.C.-area leaders slammed President Donald Trump on Sunday for encouraging protests against stay-at-home orders, while also contradicting the White House’s claims that sufficient testing exists to reopen the states.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, criticized the president’s comments defending protesters in Annapolis and Richmond and other parts of the country who have been demanding governors lift the pandemic-related restrictions, calling them unhelpful and nonsensical, while Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, said Trump is focused on protests because he has not been able to deliver on supplying more coronavirus tests.

“We are fighting a biological war, and we have been asked as governors to fight that war without the supplies we need,” Northam said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”


“Every governor in America has been pushing and fighting and clawing to get more tests, not only from the federal government, but from every private lab in America and from across the world,” said Hogan, who also appeared on the show. “It’s nowhere near where it needs to be.”

Their comments came as the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia surpassed another dire milestone in the coronavirus crisis Sunday, as the tally of confirmed cases topped 24,000 and the region reported 39 new deaths.

As of Sunday morning, 930 people had died of covid-19 in the three jurisdictions combined and hospitalizations continued to rise.

There were 554 coronavirus-related deaths in Maryland as of Sunday morning, up 15 from Saturday. There were 12,836 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state Sunday, up 522 from Saturday.

The District added 127 confirmed cases, bringing its total to 2,797. Nearly 100 people have died of the disease in the nation’s capital.

Virginia added 19 deaths Sunday, bringing its total to 280, according to The Washington Post’s tally. The state reported 8,567 confirmed cases Sunday, up 484 from Saturday.

“Just as soon as we can get this health crisis behind us, we will be able to address the economic crisis, get back to were we were and let people get back to their normal lives,” Northam said.


Nonessential businesses will remain closed until May 15 in the District, May 10 in Maryland and May 8 in Virginia, and leaders have warned against letting up on efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. D.C. and Maryland have ordered residents to wear masks when they go out to stores.

Under pressure from civil rights advocates, public health experts and congressional Democrats, Hogan announced Sunday that he had signed an executive order granting early release to hundreds of inmates.

About 720 prisoners, who are both nearing the end of their sentences and are at high-risk for covid-19 complications, have been identified for potential release, Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said.

The executive order also allows corrections officials to accelerate parole and home detention decisions as additional tools to try to safely reduce the vulnerable prison population. Sex offenders are not eligible for early release.

The order comes days after officials announced the first inmate died of covid-19. It also follows more than a month of advocates lobbying Hogan to take aggressive action to release high-risk elderly inmates, those with chronic medical conditions and inmates nearing the end of their prison terms.

As of Thursday, 136 people have tested positive within the system, including 105 correctional officers and other employees.

Hogan initially rejected the idea of releasing inmates, saying a month ago that “they’re safer where they are” and likening correctional facilities to a quarantine space. “I don’t think it’d be a great idea,” he said at the time.

The executive order, however, notes that “because of inmates’ close proximity to each other, employees, and contractors in correctional facilities, the spread of COVID-19 there poses a significant threat to their health, welfare, and safety, as well as the communities in which they live or to which they will return.”


On Saturday, protesters shut down streets around the Maryland State House in Annapolis, calling on Hogan to lift coronavirus-related restrictions. A smaller group protested in Richmond on Thursday by holding a picnic on the capitol grounds without social distancing or wearing masks.

They were among several demonstrations around the nation in recent days urging governors to reopen for business.

In his appearance on CNN, Hogan said he sympathized with protesters clamoring to restart the economy, adding it would be reckless to do so right now.

“I understand the frustration among the people that want to get things open right away. I’m frustrated, too. I wish I had someone to protest to,” Hogan said, before turning to calling out Trump for fanning protests that contradict the reopening guidelines the president issued Thursday. Those guidelines suggest states not consider reopening until coronavirus cases decline for two straight weeks.

“I don’t think it’s helpful to encourage demonstrations and encourage people to go against the president’s own policy,” Hogan said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

In a tweetstorm Friday morning, Trump encouraged protesters in Virginia and other states who in the past week violated stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines to march against Democratic governors.

“LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!” Trump tweeted.

The president continued his attack on Virginia at a press briefing Saturday, saying Northam is trying to take away the Second Amendment. “People really have to start looking at what’s going on in Virginia,” Trump said.

Northam, responding specifically to Trump’s calls to “liberate” Virginia, said: “Our president obviously has been unable to deliver on tests and has chosen to focus on protests.”

“This is not the time for protest, this is not the time for divisiveness, this is a time for leadership that will stand up and provide empathy,” Northam said. “It is time for truth and it is the time to bring people together.”

Trump’s tweet on the Second Amendment is most likely a reference to a slate of gun-control bills Northam recently signed into law, which included expanding background checks to all firearm sales.

Northam and Hogan said governors from across the country are collaborating to increase the amount of personal protective equipment and increase testing capabilities.

“To try to push this off to say the governors have plenty of testing and they should just get to work on testing … is just absolutely false,” Hogan said.

Hogan on Friday said he plans release details about the state’s recovery plan late this week. But he said he will be watching hospitalizations, intensive care unit bed usage and deaths to determine whether to consider reopening, and he warned that strict social distancing measures will remain in place until the daily tally of each of those has declined for 14 consecutive days.

In Charles County, the department of health has identified 101 cases of covid-19 in county nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. The facilities with positive cases include Sagepoint Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, according to state officials.

“Despite following all the top healthcare guidelines and regulations, our staff is devastated to see this virus affect the community,” the Sagepoint board of directors said in a message to the senior community without any further details on how many cases the center has. “They love our clients like family and do everything possible to protect and care for them.”

D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr., D-Ward 8, announced Sunday that his grandmother Veronica Norman, a longtime employee at the District’s public psychiatric facility, had died of covid-19. He said Norman was found unresponsive in her home, and the chief medical examiner determined they could not remove her body because it is a covid-19 case.

“This broke us down even more trying scramble to get her body removed from the house,” White wrote in Instagram and Facebook posts Sunday morning.

Norman worked at St. Elizabeth Hospital for 40 years and served the District community “unwavering with a commitment to helping others until her last day,” White said, posting a photo of a Certificate of Appreciation she received from the D.C. Department of Mental Health in 2013 in recognition f here 33 years of service to the District.

“We advised her to retire and go home so many times, but her love and commitment for her patients kept pulling her out of bed everyday,” White wrote. “She loved her family and community so much.”

Calling this the “worse time to lose a family member,” White sent his love and prayers to others suffering from the coronavirus and other health conditions.

“We are a resilient people and will make it through these tough times as well we always do,” he wrote. “In the words of grandma, ‘Be Strong Tray.’ Forever missed.”

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