STATE TO GET HALF VACCINES NEEDED FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS: Jeff Barker and Colin Campbell of the Sun reports that Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday that Maryland’s initial batch of coronavirus vaccines will only be enough for half of the state’s front-line health care workers, but he is hoping production will ramp up after “a little bit of a slow takeoff.”

• Other groups prioritized for vaccination in Phase 1 of the Maryland plan include staff and residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, as well as essential workers in public safety, education and other industries, Laura Olson writes for Maryland Matters.

HOGAN UNVEILS NEW MEASURES IN COVID PREVENTION: Gov. Larry Hogan Tuesday unveiled a series of new measures the state is taking to prevent Maryland’s hospitals from being overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, Bryan Renbaum of Maryland Reporter reports. The state has seen a 51% increase in COVID-related hospitalizations over the past two weeks.

• Saying the worst of the pandemic is still ahead, Hogan pleaded for Maryland residents with a clinical background to assist in the state’s fight against the surging coronavirus, Brian Witte of the AP reports.
• Hogan and state health and hospital officials are scrambling for as many as 3,000 additional workers, Bryan Sears reports for the Daily Record. Hospitalizations in Maryland, already at or approaching record levels, are expected to climb in the coming weeks. “It’s a scary situation for everybody involved,” said Hogan.
• Maryland hospitals could see record-high numbers of COVID-19 patients in the coming days, Hogan said. The state this week also lost its youngest victim yet to the virus. Hogan choked up during a news conference as he announced the death of a 1-year-old boy, the first Marylander younger than 9 to die of COVID-19, Madeleine O’Neill of the USA Today Network reports.
• As of Tuesday morning, Maryland surpassed 201,135 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including an additional 2,765 cases, 30 deaths and 56 hospitalizations from the virus in the past 24 hours, Teresa McMinn of the Cumberland Times-News reports.

HOGAN REPEATS CALL FOR MORE STIMULUS: Gov. Hogan on Tuesday repeated his call for federal lawmakers to provide “urgently needed” stimulus money to help businesses and families that are struggling with the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Madeleine O’Neill of the USA Today Network reports.

COVID PUSHES THOUSANDS TO STATE HEALTH PLANS: While the COVID-19 pandemic has posed its fair share of challenges, it’s also opened the eyes of tens of thousands of uninsured Marylanders, many of whom rushed to enroll in health care plans ahead of falling ill, Hannah Gaskill of Maryland Matters reports.

MERCY MEDICAL GETS $10M FOR COVID FIGHT: McKenna Oxenden of the Sun reports that congressional leaders say that Mercy Medical Center has been awarded more than $10 million in federal funding Tuesday to help continue the fight against the coronavirus.

Thanks to the more than 30 donors who contributed online to MarylandReporter.com on Giving NewsDay yesterday, raising more than $1,100. It’s never too late to support nonprofit journalism in Maryland by making a tax-deductible contribution to MarylandReporter.com. Several people set up new recurring payments of just $5 a month. That’s an easy way of making an annual gift of $60 a year.

CHILD WITH COVID STOPPED FROM FLYING: A mother and son were stopped minutes before boarding a flight at BWI after the child tested positive for COVID-19, officials confirmed. Elijah Westbrook of Fox-45 reports that on the eve of Thanksgiving, Maryland State Police say were contacted by a health officer on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The child had tested positive for the virus, but the health department was unable to get in contact with the mother. Aware of the family’s travel plan, the state took action.

BA CO RESTARTS SCHOOL AFTER RANSOMWARE ATTACK: Baltimore County school leaders say instruction “may look different” today when classes resume for all students following last week’s extensive ransomware attack on the school network. Officials have established a new method for the school system’s approximately 115,000 students to log onto its learning management system, Lillian Reed of the Sun reports.

CARROLL PRIVATE SCHOOLS SEE FEW COVID OUTBREAKS: Private schools in Carroll County, which have seen an increase in enrollment largely attributed to offering more in-person learning than public school, have seen relatively few outbreaks of Covid-19 this school year at least in part as a result of small class sizes, resources and protocols. This is at a time when cases have been on the rise in Carroll County and throughout Maryland, Kristen Griffith of the Carroll County Times reports.

MARYLAND HITS 201,135 COVID CASES: Here’s the Sun’s Covid-19 update for Tuesday, when the total confirmed cases in Maryland hit 201,135.

• COVID-19 hospitalizations are surging across Montgomery County as part of a second wave of cases. Emergency rooms visits in the county have increased. The number of COVID-19 cases is rising in each age group, Briana Adhkusuma of Bethesda Beat reports.
• Montgomery County on Tuesday added 505 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 — its second-largest daily increase in new COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in March, Bethesda Beat reports.
• Of the 71 new COVID-19 cases announced by the Carroll County Health Department on Tuesday, seven of them arose from congregate living facilities, Bob Blubaugh of the Carroll County Times reports. Carroll has seen 103 total cases this week, tracking higher than last week. Among Tuesday’s new cases, 16 were added to last week’s total of 269. The week of Nov. 15 saw a record 323 new cases.

OPINION: BOTH SIDES ARE RIGHT ON HOGAN: In a column for Maryland Matters, Josh Kurtz opines, “It’s sometimes said in politics that if you go far enough left on the political spectrum or far enough right on the political spectrum, the two sides will meet. That statement came to mind last week as certain members of the Republican caucus in the House of Delegates offered blistering criticisms of Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. What was striking was that they often sounded like Democratic critiques of Hogan’s tenure.”

HAWKINS TO LEAD PG COUNCIL: The Prince George’s County Council unanimously elected Calvin S. Hawkins II (D-At Large) as chair during its final meeting of the year Tuesday, elevating a longtime player in county politics with strong ties to the executive branch Rachel Chason of the Post reports.

HUCKER TO HEAD MO CO COUNCIL: The Montgomery County Council elected new leaders Tuesday: outgoing vice president Tom Hucker (D-District 5) was selected as president, succeeding Sidney Katz (D-District 3). And Gabe Albornoz (D-At Large) was appointed vice president of the all-Democratic legislative body, becoming the first of the four first-term lawmakers elected in 2018 to take on such a leadership role, Rebecca Tan of the Post reports.

MICHAEL BAKER, 63, WAS AIDE TO RUPPERSBERGER: Michael John Baker, the former chief of Baltimore City Parks who became an aide to U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, died of heart disease Nov. 12 at his Parkville home. He was 63, Jacques Kelly of the Sun reports.