HOGANS SECURE 500,000 TESTING KITS FROM SOUTH KOREA: Maryland owes a debt of gratitude to the people of South Korea, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Monday after securing 500,000 coronavirus tests from the country over the weekend. But Hogan acknowledged Monday that the deal would not have come together if it weren’t for his wife, first lady Yumi Hogan, Ovetta Wiggins of the Post reports.

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  Gov. Larry Hogan said first lady Yumi Hogan was instrumental in getting the tests. (screenshot)

  Hogan described the secret Operation Enduring Friendship as unprecedented, Regina Holmes writes for Maryland Reporter. It required many days and nights of coordination between not only Maryland and South Korean officials but also several federal agencies, Hogan said.

• The governor said the state spent “22 straight days” negotiating directly with the company and the South Korean government, Josh Kurtz reports in Maryland Matters.
• Hogan said securing the tests represents “an exponential, game-changing step forward on our large-scale testing initiative.” The governor praised several high-level state officials who were part of the negotiations, and singled out his wife, Luke Broadwater and Pamela Wood report in the Baltimore Sun.
• In making the announcement, Hogan said the Trump administration “made it clear over and over again” that states “have to go out and do it ourselves.” Testing shortages have stymied the pandemic response across the country, sparking friction between the White House and governors, Fenit Nirappil, Erin Cox and Gregory S. Schneider report in the Washington Post.
• Mike Hellgren of WJZ-TV reports that Hogan said he appreciated Trump’s list on testing facilities, “but more than half, most of the ones they sent me in Maryland were all federal facilities including NIH and FDA and Walter Reed and Fort Detrich.” Later Monday night, Hogan tweeted he was, “grateful to President Trump for sending us a list of federal labs and generously offering Maryland use of them for #COVID19 testing.”
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  First Lady Yumi Hogan

  Lillian Reed of the Sun writes that Maryland first lady Yumi Hogan nabbed national attention after she worked to obtain coronavirus test kits for the state from South Korea. A South Korean native, the first lady helped the state secure the tests by making calls to the South Korean ambassador.

• Hogan said the cost of the test kits was $9 million, Dan Schere reports for Bethesda Beat.

TRUMP JABS AT HOGAN: President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized Gov. Larry Hogan during his White House coronavirus briefing Monday, saying over and over that Hogan “didn’t really understand” the federal testing capacity and that he “needed more knowledge,” McKenna Oxeden and Pamela Wood of the Sun report.

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