The Garrett Regional Medical Center is among six new COVID-19 testing sites run by the state of Maryland. Governor Larry Hogan also announced yesterday the state will require regular testing at nursing homes, and that facemasks will be distributed to the public. The testing sites will be open daily, with no appointment necessary. Due to the highly contagious omicron variant, the state will begin widely distributing 20 million free N95 and KN95 masks to Maryland residents. Finally, the Maryland Department of Health will now require all staff, volunteers and vendors who are in a nursing home facility on a regular basis, to be tested twice a week, whenever community transmission is high.