mandate on April 15, 2020. On April 24, he unveiled the state's three-stage plan for reopening the state's economy, with the first step involving lifting the state's stay-at-home order. Hogan lifted the stay-at-home order on May 13, after a two-week decline in hospitalizations statewide, and continued the rest of the state's first stage of reopening on May 27. He began the second stage of reopening on June 5, by reopening certain businesses and personal services at 50% capacity. On April 20, 2020, Hogan announced that the state had brokered a $10 million deal with South Korea to acquire 500,000 COVID-19 tests after weeks of negotiations in a confidential project called Operation Enduring Friendship. Upon their delivery, he deployed members of the state's National Guard and the state police to supervise the testing kits at an "undisclosed location" after reports of federal officials seizing supplies delivered to other states. Citing apparent reliability problems, the University of Maryland lab in Baltimore stopped using these test kits in September 2020, replacing the tests with ones developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was later revealed that the acquired tests had been flawed and were left unused, which led the Hogan administration to acquire 500,000 replacement tests from the same company it had originally purchased test kits from for $2.5 million. Acting Maryland Secretary of Health Dennis Schrader acknowledged the Hogan administration's replacement of its test kits in December 2020. In May 2021, Hogan vetoed a bill that would create greater transparency in emergency procurements that had passed the state House of Delegates and the Senate in a 131–1 and 47–0 vote, respectively. An audit conducted by the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits found that over $190 million in pandemic-related emergency purchases made by state agencies, including the procurement of the South Korean company LabGenomics test kits, lacked appropriate records. In July 2020, as hospitalization rates began to rise again, Hogan issued a new statewide mask mandate, advised Maryland residents against traveling to states with a positivity rate of 10% or higher, and extended the state's eviction and utility shut-off moratorium. On August 27, he announced that he had authorized every county school board system to begin safely reopening schools, citing improved coronavirus metrics. A few days later, he announced that the state would proceed with the third stage of its reopening plan on September 4 by reopening casinos, theaters,