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Two legislative committees that oversee the Maryland Department of Health plan to grill top state officials about an attack that disabled the agency鈥檚 computers, top lawmakers said on Tuesday.
Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) has revealed little about the Dec. 4 attack, which has significantly hampered the agency鈥檚 operations.
Health department employees initially were told to stay off their computers as a precaution. Although some systems听, the agency has not posted COVID-19 case rates, testing or mortality data since Dec. 3.
Hospitalization and vaccine data are available, as are congregate and school outbreak reports. Maryland is experiencing its biggest spike in hospitalizations since April.
鈥淭he governor has been incredibly quiet about this issue,鈥� said Del. Shane Pendergrass (D-Howard), head of the House Health and Government Operations Committee. 鈥淭he question of how it happened, why it happened, how bad is it 鈥� all of those things need to be answered.鈥�
Senate Education, Environment and Health Affairs Committee Chairman Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George鈥檚) accused Hogan of being 鈥渁bsent.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 always out front when there鈥檚 good news 鈥� even it鈥檚 not because of his actions. But when there鈥檚 bad news, he鈥檚 not in front of the cameras,鈥� the lawmaker said. 鈥淭hey shouldn鈥檛 duck this. They should say what the problem is [and] how long it鈥檚 going to take to fix it.鈥�
鈥淲e know nothing鈥� about the impacts the attack is having, Pinsky added, including whether hackers have sought a ransom payment, a common tactic.
A Hogan spokesman declined to comment, and a Maryland Department of Health spokesman declined a request for an interview.
The agency also refused to answer written questions about whether the attack originated overseas, whether a ransom has been requested, whether employees are able to use their government-issued computers, how operations have been impacted, who is handling the investigation, or whether Health Secretary Dennis Schrader intends to testify at the legislature鈥檚 hearing.
At a press conference last Thursday, Hogan said, 鈥淥ur system was compromised, but at this point it appears to be much, much less intrusive and with a much better outcome than we were afraid might be the case.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 believe that any data was sacrificed, and I think they鈥檙e digging into it and getting into the problem,鈥� he added.
On July 1, the state reported 97 COVID patients in Maryland hospitals. On Dec. 3, there were 1,173, the most since April 22.
Anne Arundel officials reported Tuesday that there are 84 COVID patients in county hospitals, up from approximately 40 last week.
鈥淚t is concerning to have a doubling of our hospitalization in the last week and not know what our case rates look like right now,鈥� County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) told reporters. 鈥淣ot knowing what鈥檚 going on with the case rates means that [hospitals] can鈥檛 project what their hospitalization rates are going to be in two weeks.鈥�
Most of the Anne Arundel鈥檚 sickest COVID patients have not been vaccinated, Pittman said.
Anne Arundel听Fire Chief Trisha L. Wolford said hospitals are 鈥渁bsolutely struggling鈥� 鈥� as are her paramedics.
鈥淭he waits are incredibly听long,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen they鈥檙e at the hospital for multiple hours, it鈥檚 heartbreaking that they can鈥檛 be out in the community.鈥�
Wolford urged unvaccinated residents to 鈥渄o the right thing for your community and your neighbors鈥� by getting their shots.
In a statement, state health department spokesman Andy Owen said the agency 鈥渢ook down certain systems out of an abundance of caution following the recent network security incident.鈥�
The agency鈥檚 priorities are 鈥済aining full visibility into the affected network infrastructure,鈥� bringing systems back online, and restoring full COVID-19 data reporting capabilities, he said.
Pendergrass has scheduled a hearing into the computer attack for Thursday, Jan. 13, the first full day of the legislature鈥檚 2022 session. She and Pinsky have agreed to hold one together but Pinsky wants to hold it in December.
Regardless of when lawmakers hold their hearing, 鈥渢he governor will not likely take responsibility for this, nor will anyone else,鈥� Pendergrass said. 鈥淭he administration is not ever very forthcoming about anything, in particular the Health Department.鈥�听
