ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan held an emergency press conference on Monday morning to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

At Monday’s briefing, the governor announced that he had signed an executive order closing all bars, restaurants, movie theaters, and gyms as of 5 p.m. on Monday.  Delivery and carry-out services will remain unaffected.

Gatherings will be limited to 50 people, consistent with the CDC’s recent guidelines.

The governor will be reopening closed hospitals, clearing out space, and adding additional capacity of up to 6,000 beds.

Governor Hogan is activating the Maryland Medical Reserve Corps, a team of 5,000 trained and dedicated volunteers.

The governor is signing an order to prohibit electric, gas, water, sewage, phone, cable, TV, and internet service provider companies from shutting off any residential customer’s service, or charging any residential customer late fees, during this state of emergency.

White Marsh Mall and Towson Town Center are reducing their hours and will be open from noon to 7 p.m. every day except for Sunday, when the hours will be 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We have never faced anything like this ever before,” said Governor Hogan. “This is going to be much harder, take much longer, and be much worse than almost anyone is currently understanding. And unfortunately, far too many people have chosen to continue crowding bars and restaurants, willingly putting the health and safety of others in grave danger. Decision makers at the federal, state, and local level are going to have to take drastic actions right now that may seem scary and may sound extreme. They will be terribly disruptive, but they are also absolutely necessary to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.”

Click here for a full summary of the governor’s actions.

View the full press conference below…