Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that South Korea is sending the state 5,000 coronavirus kits, which can be made into 500,000 tests, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Why it matters: A lack of reliable testing supplies has hindered efforts to understand how widespread the virus is both in Maryland and across the country. Increasing testing is also a key requirement states must reach before they can relax stay-at-home orders.
- South Korea's mass testing program has received accolades around the world — and resulted in a significant flattening of the curve of infections there.
- Yumi Hogan, the governor's wife, was born in South Korea and took part in the deal, calling the country's ambassador to the U.S.
The big picture: Maryland currently has a stay-at-home order in effect, mandating the closure of nonessential businesses and a shutdown of public schools until at least May 15.
- Maryland has so far conducted 71,397 tests for its population of around 6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
- Hogan plans to increase testing, expand hospital capacity, strengthen the supply of personal protective equipment, and build a contact-tracing operation to track down people exposed to patients with the virus before relaxing any restrictions, according to the Sun.
Go deeper: Governors contradict Trump's claims that states have testing capacity to reopen