Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announces 10 new COVID-19 testing sites

LAUREL, Md. - Two days after implementing a temporary 30-day state of emergency, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced 10 new locations for hospital-based COVID-19 testing sites. 

The additional COVID-19 testing sites are slated to be fully operational by the end of next week, the governor said during his press conference at the University of Maryland's Laurel Medical Center. 

Maryland hospitals seeing surge of residents looking for COVID-19 tests

"One of the primary goals of this effort is to ease the burden on hospitals and emergency rooms," Hogan said. "We're already getting great, encouraging reports that emergency room traffic for testing has dropped dramatically as a result." 

Two hospital-based COVID-19 testing sites, the University of Maryland's Upper Chesapeake Hospital and Luminis Health's Anne Arundel Medical Center, have been open since last week. 

The State of Maryland, in partnership with the federal government, will also open a testing site at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore – where FEMA will provide staffing support.

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All sites will be open daily for walk-ups or drive-thru COVID testing with no appointment necessary. According to Governor Hogan, Maryland is one of the most vaccinated states in the country with over 92% of residents having received at least one dose.