Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced today that the District will enter into phase two of reopening on Monday if the current trends in Covid-19 metrics continue.
“We are trending in the right direction,” Bowser told reporters at a press conference this morning.
The mayor said she expects to be able to announce this Friday whether or not the District will be ready to enter phase two Monday.
- Gatherings of more than 50 people are still banned, nonessential retail can open at 50% capacity, and restaurants can have indoor dining at 50% capacity.
- Houses of worship are encouraged to hold virtual services, but are permitted to have up to 100 people, or 50% capacity. DC recommends that churches do not have choirs or singing.
- Personal services, including nail care, tattooing and waxing will be permitted under phase 2 with certain restrictions in place.
Officials said three out of the four key metrics used to decide if DC is ready to move into phase 2 have been met, barring a spike in community spread cases of coronavirus over the coming days.
The fourth metric is that the contact tracing force has a 90% success rate contacting positive cases within one day —that is yet to be met.
Director of DC Public Health LaQuandra Nesbitt explained that the government has a new digital system and has increased the number of contact tracers, which Bowser said “gives us confidence in saying that we are hitting, going to hit, where we need to be.”
As of today, Washington, DC, has at least 9,847 positive community spread cases of the coronavirus, and 523 people have died from the virus.
When asked if the District should wait to enter phase two until the effects of protests are clear on the spread of the coronavirus, Bowser said “we always have the ability to turn up or turn down our reopening.”
“This virus is not gone, it is still here,” Bowser added.
