A leading District health official on Monday said researchers need to see more links between coronavirus cases before the city can move to the next phase of reopening.
City Health Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt said the health officials aren’t just looking at the decline in the number of cases on a daily basis, but also at the nature of those cases and their relationship with one another when considering how to safely reopen after enduring the first wave of the deadly pandemic.
The District entered phase two of its reopening schedule on June 22, allowing more businesses to reopen and limited public activities to resume.
“We would much rather begin to see clusters of cases as opposed to individual cases not being connected to one another in order to indicate that it would be OK to move to phase three,” said Dr. Nesbitt, describing the current phase as a “much longer haul” than phase one.
“There’s a different environment from a public health perspective that would have to be in place in terms of cases being connected to each other that we would need to be in phase three,” she said at a news conference Monday. “And it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to completely get there before we turn on additional activities in phase two.”
Dr. Nesbitt also noted that there were some activities outlined in the second reopening stage that District officials have had to be delayed, such as opening pools and in-person schooling.
The school year kicks off on Aug. 31, and city officials have already said that all District public schools will start the first term with online learning only. Families who need devices for learning can contact their schools directly or complete the technology survey at dcpsreopenstrong.com. Parents can call DC Public Schools at 202-442-5885.
The mayor said she will provide more updates on school year plans on Wednesday.
The city said Monday there were 49 new positive coronavirus cases, but no additional deaths attributed to COVID-19. The coronavirus has infected 13,639 residents and killed 604 people since the outbreak began in March, according to health department data.
At Monday’s press briefing, D.C. Health also released an updated list of “high-risk” states where the seven-day moving average of daily new COVID-19 cases is 10 or more per 100,000 individuals. Incoming travelers from these states who traveled for nonessential reasons are required to self-quarantine for two weeks under an order issued by Miss Bowser.
Maryland and Virginia are exempt from the order. Delaware, Hawaii and South Dakota were added to the list of high-risk states while Montana and New Mexico were removed. The list remains in effect until Sept. 7.
And the city found itself once again pulled into President Trump’s political orbit, with parts of this week’s largely virtual Republican National Convention that kicked off Monday will be hosted at District sites, including the South Lawn of the White House, Trump International Hotel, and the National Mall, where GOP officials say they will stage a fireworks show Thursday near the Washington Monument after Mr. Trump makes his acceptance speech.
The March on Washington protest scheduled for Friday will shut down portions of a number of streets in the downtown area as well, and city officials said they are bracing for a large crowd then as well.
“Most of the events scheduled for Friday are taking place on federal property, so we’ve been in close contact with our police,” said Chris Rodriguez, the director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) for the District.
“Our traditional public safety services will be provided, so the (Metropolitan Police Department) and FEMA will be out there. We also requested National Guard support for traffic monitoring to make sure again that the event goes off as safely and securely as possible.”
City officials faced criticism this summer after the large Black Lives Matter protests were allowed to take place across the city with minimal concern for social distancing and trying to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“Anyone who wants to come and march or attend [Friday’s event] needs to ensure they are doing it in a safe way and be mindful of the fact that we are under a global pandemic right now,” he added.
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