By Ace Ramirez
EBC Washington DC Bureau

ANNAPOLIS, MD (Eagle News) – Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency amid emerging positive cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

“With this declaration, I am officially authorizing and directing the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency to ramp up coordination among all state and local agencies and enable them to fast-track coordination with our state and local health departments and emergency management teams,” Gov. Hogan said.

Maryland’s declaration of emergency came about as Maryland’s Public Health Laboratory declared the first three positive cases of COVID-19 in the state. In light of these developments, Gov. Hogan encouraged people to stay calm.

“While today’s news may seem overwhelming, this is not a reason to panic,” Gov. Hogan said. “Marylanders should go to work or go to school tomorrow just as they normally would. At the same time, I want to continue to remind everyone to prepare themselves and continue to stay informed.”

Maryland joined California, Florida, and Washington states who have declared a state of emergency due to the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases.

According to the Johns Hopkins CSSE, Coronavirus COVID-19 global cases have reached over 100,000 with Mainland China in the forefront with 80,000 cases. Cases in South Korea have reached over 6,500 as of this writing. Iran and Italy have also shown a significant increase in the number of Coronavirus cases in the past few days.

(Eagle News Service)