The leaders of Maryland’s most populous counties said Thursday that they will extend their respective stay-at-home orders, part of an expected break with Gov. Larry Hogan and his plans announced this week to move into an initial reopening of the state.

“Life in Montgomery County is going to continue as it was because the circumstances… have not changed enough in order to make opening safe,” said County Executive Marc Elrich, speaking at a press conference in Rockville. He said he would be issuing an executive order on Friday to clarify that the stay-at-home order will remain in place for Montgomery County even as it expires across the state.

Speaking from Largo, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks extended the county’s stay-at-home order through June 1, saying conditions hadn’t yet been met to lift restrictions and allow businesses to start reopening as Hogan announced Wednesday could start happening statewide as of Friday.

“I know that people want to get back to work. I know people want to gather with their families. This is coming at great sacrifice. But frankly we can’t reopen because we don’t have the resources to do so safely,” she said.

The announcements complete what was an expected divergence between the initial reopenings announced by Hogan and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and the more densely populated areas of those states in the Washington region, which account for the lion’s share of COVID-19 cases in their respective states.

Of Maryland’s 35,903 recorded positive cases as of Thursday, Montgomery County has seen the largest overall number of deaths (397 and another 40 probable) and has reported 7,548 cases. Prince George’s County has almost as many deaths (379, with another 19 probable fatalities) and thousands more cases: 10,449. Of Virginia 27,813 positive cases, Fairfax County has the largest single number (6,951) and most deaths (267), and Arlington County has 1,499 cases and 70 deaths.

This week, Northam gave Northern Virginia a two-week reprieve on loosening restrictions and allowing businesses to reopen, and Mayor Muriel Bowser extended D.C.’s stay-at-home order through June 8. In Maryland, Howard County, Baltimore County and Baltimore City have said they will likely delay any reopening, while Anne Arundel County officials say they are still deciding which elements of Hogan’s plan to implement.

“I got a text message from my pastor in the last 15 minutes asking, ‘Does this mean we can go to church on Sunday?'” said At-Large Councilmember Gabe Albornoz, speaking at a county meeting about the pandemic response on Thursday morning. “Of course the answer is no. But that just speaks to that this press conference this afternoon is critically important to be very clear on the delineation.”

Both Elrich and Alsobrooks said the necessary metrics for a phased reopening — including a 14-day decrease in cases, increased testing and contact tracing capabilities, and enough hospital beds and personal protective equipment to satisfy demand — have not yet been met in their counties.

In Prince George’s County, Alsobrooks said 5,000 residents a week are being tested — but she wants to see that increase to 9,000 before loosening any restrictions. “We can’t send people into businesses without the ability to test them, so we have to expand capacity there,” she said.

In Montgomery County, Elrich said that on Wednesday, four out of the six hospitals were at capacity for ICU beds. “If there’s an uptick [in cases], our hospitals can’t withstand an uptick,” he said.

Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles said the county is working on a new, “aggressive” testing campaign that will initially give priority to frontline employees who have been asked to report to work, which he hopes to announce within the next day or so. He also hinted that the testing program could include a self-collection method for test samples.

The county launched a mobile testing helpline on Wednesday, so individuals without a medical provider can call and be triaged and screened for testing. Gayles also said he hope to stand up a “mobile testing army, if you will,” that can provide additional testing in pop-up venues or specific locations that are deemed to be “high-risk.” They are providing those services in a limited fashion right now, at homeless shelters and among families in ZIP codes with the most cases of COVID-19 in the county.

The hope is, Gayles said, that the county would not continue to be “hamstrung” by the shortages of testing materials that had previously hindered efforts at widespread testing. Gayles said he wants the county to have the ability to test 5% of its population on a monthly basis, which amounts to 55,000 tests a month. Gayles said that about 3% of the county’s population has been tested for COVID-19 in total so far.

Both Alsobrooks and Elrich expressed some frustration with the state, saying that tests and other equipment has yet to be provided at the scale that’s needed, and questioned whether it would be wise to implement a piecemeal reopening plan — especially when people can still move freely across state and county lines.

“We recognize the interconnectedness of our communities,” said Alsobrooks. “If you open prematurely in one jurisdiction… that means individuals may just travel back and forth.”

“I do worry about things opening up in other jurisdictions,” echoed Elrich. “I frankly don’t think you want residents from here going to places where there aren’t restrictions.”

Still, Prince George’s County officials expressed a note of optimism, saying that some metrics were trending in the right direction — and that residents should know their efforts are helping.

“We’re seeing good signs, but we’re not out the woods yet. Our case count keeps going up,” said County Health Office Dr. Ernest Carter. “We need all of you to stay the course, because without that we’ll go backward and that’s something we can’t afford.”