The latest
- President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will temporarily suspend the issuance of certain green cards for 60 days.
- D.C. unveils a new testing site and is expanding testing criteria to allow some asymptomatic people to be tested.
- D.C. reports deaths jumped by 15, which ties the highest number reported on April 15.
- Virginia House Speaker faints during an outdoor session held amid protests.
The symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, coughing and shortness of breath. Health officials say that if you have these symptoms, you should call your doctor. Do not just show up. Medical facilities need to get ready for you. If you don’t have a doctor and you live in D.C. or the nearby Maryland suburbs, D.C.’s mayor recommends calling the Testing Triage Center at 855-363-0333 or Mary’s Center at 844-796-2797. If you live in Virginia, call 211.
Trump suspends issuance of some green cards
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will temporarily suspend the issuance of certain green cards for 60 days as the country continues to combat the coronavirus, The Associated Press reported.
Trump announced the signing during a White House briefing.
He says the order will “ensure that unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy re-opens.”
The order signed by Trump includes a long list of exceptions, including for those who are currently in the country, those who have valid immigrant visas, people seeking entry to work as physicians and nurses, and the spouses and unmarried children of U.S. citizens.
Trump has said he will reassess whether to extend the order in 60 days.
Read the full story from The Associated Press.
11 have died at Northern Virginia care facility
There have been 11 deaths and dozens of illnesses due to a coronavirus outbreak in a Herndon, Virginia, long-term care facility, The Associated Press reported.
The first positive test at the Dulles Health and Rehab Center was reported on March 28. Since then, there have been 63 positive test results of patients. Director of legal services for Commonwealth Care of Roanoke, which provides management and consulting services to the facility, told The Associated Press that 19 staff members have also tested positive.
Virginia authorities have reported 91 outbreaks at long-term care facilities across the state, resulting in 78 deaths.
Va. House Speaker falls during veto session
Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, a Democrat who represents Fairfax County, appeared to faint during a scheduled reconvened session in Richmond on Wednesday. The reconvened session is when lawmakers consider any of the governor’s amendments or vetoes to legislation.
Her spokesman said that Filler-Corn did not have lunch and was a little dizzy, and that she did fall but got right back up and continued to do her job. “We’re rocking and rolling, baby,” Filler-Corn spokesman Jake Rubenstein said in an email.
Filler-Corn and other House lawmakers were gathered under a tent near the Richmond capitol, and were just about to take a break after more than three hours of meeting, when the speaker appeared to faint and fell behind the dais, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch, which also reported that Filler-Corn was standing almost the entire time.
The House rejected Wednesday her proposal to allow for remote voting, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
The lawmakers met inside a tent because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Maryland reopens Laurel facility to build hospital surge
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the reopening of a “renovated and reconfigured” Laurel Medical Center in Prince George’s County Wednesday, which will add hospital capacity in a county that accounts for more than a quarter of the state’s coronavirus cases.
Increasing the state’s hospital “surge” capability — to handle a projected increase in hospitalizations related to the virus — is a key part of Hogan’s plan to eventually relax coronavirus restrictions. Hogan said he would unveil the “Maryland Strong Recovery Plan” on Friday.
The hospital, which first opened in 1978 had been “downsized and downgraded” over the years, Hogan said, before it was closed entirely in 2015.
“But now with its rebirth, it is once again going to help us save lives, not just here in Prince George’s County, but throughout the National Capital region,” Hogan said.
Three floors of the facility are reopening, adding a total of 135 hospital beds, including 35 intensive care beds. The facility will be staffed by 400 contract health care workers and managed by the University of Maryland Medical System.
Prince George’s County accounts for 3,875 — or 26% — of Maryland’s total 14,775 coronavirus cases and nearly a quarter of the state’s deaths from the virus — 152.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, appearing with the governor Wednesday, said the reopened facility and the added beds “will lessen the stress on many of our existing medical facilities as we continue this fight.”
She added: “As we approach the surge, we knew that we would also need to expand hospital capacity — Prince George’s County’s infrastructure is new and transitioning — so we knew we that there would be a great need to expand hospital bed space.”
Last month, Hogan had announced an overall goal of adding 6,000 additional hospital beds across the state to handle coronavirus cases, including by reopening closed hospitals. In addition to the Laurel facility, the state has set up a 250-bed field hospital at the Baltimore Convention Center and added beds at a number of hospitals. Hogan said the state is now on track to add 6,700 additional hospital beds.
Responding to a question from a reporter, Hogan said, “Hopefully, we’re not going to need to use all of those. But I think we’re going to be in much, much better shape than some of these places where you saw people stacked up in the hallways and running out of ventilators and not having ICU beds.”
In Montgomery County, the first alternative testing site in the county that is not a vehicle emission inspection program site opened at the Wheaton Library and Recreation Center.
“We also know having increased access to testing will be very meaningful to help guide the decisions we make in terms of whether, how or when we open up society,” Montgomery County Health Officer Travis Gayles said.
Tests will be done at the Wheaton location Wednesdays, and Gayles said a similar site at the Germantown Upcounty Regional Services Center will be launched that will test patients on Mondays.
Gayles also said that the county is building a hotline system where people who don’t have a provider can speak to one, get screened or get an order to be tested.
Md. turns to polling firm to act as virus contact tracers
Hogan also announced plans to significantly increase the number of workers who perform contact tracing of coronavirus cases — investigating and tracking down every positive case in the state, which helps stop outbreaks before they happen.
There are already 250 contact tracers in the Maryland Department of Health and at local health departments.
Hogan said Wednesday, the state has signed a contract with the polling and research firm NORC — the National Opinion Research Center — to quadruple the contact-tracing workforce.
When fully staffed, the team will be able to contact 1,000 new cases per day, Hogan said.
In addition, the state is launching what Hogan called a “state-of-the-art” contact-tracing platform, called COVIDLink, which will help monitor and collect information about people who test positive for COVID-19.
Building the capacity of contact tracers is also a key part of Hogan’s recovery plan.
DC expands testing to include some people without symptoms
D.C. is unveiling a new public coronavirus testing site, rolling out rapid tests in long-term care facilities and other settings, and loosening the criteria for who can get tested to include some people who don’t show any symptoms.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the new steps to increase testing capacity in the District during a news conference Wednesday.
The expanded criteria for who can be tested for COVID-19 — previously generally only open to people who show symptoms — is for asymptomatic people who have a history of exposure to a known case or are in high-risk groups, such as the elderly.
Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the D.C. Department of Health, said her review of the data on new coronavirus cases shows that some asymptomatic people “may be continuing to contribute to some of the ongoing transmission that we are seeing in the District.”
Because they have been exposed but aren’t showing symptoms, “They may not necessarily be doing all of the quarantine things that we need them to do,” Nesbitt said.
The expanded testing criteria is targeted toward people who have had close contact with confirmed cases, through being in the same household or facility. The expanded testing criteria is also geared toward people considered “high-risk,” such as people over 65, people who have underlying health conditions or who are health care workers.
“Those are the groups who we really want to focus on for asymptomatic testing,” Nesbitt said. “We’re not in a position at this time where we are asking for all asymptomatic individuals in the community to push into our system and asked to be tested.”
In addition, Bowser announced the launch of a new drive-thru/walk-up testing site. The new testing site will be located at the University of the District of Columbia Bertie Backus Campus at 5171 South Dakota Ave. across the street from the Fort Totten Metro station. It will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays. You’ll need a referral from your doctor. If you don’t have a doctor, call 855-363-0333.
Read more: Where to get tested for COVID-19 in the DC region
As part of the expanded testing efforts, Bowser said the District is also rolling out rapid test kits created by Abbot Laboratories that can return results in minutes focused on facilities that house or shelter large numbers of people. Bowser said six of the Abbot ID Now testing instruments will be used in homeless shelters and one each at the D.C. Jail, St. Elizabeths Hospital and Mary’s Center.
Staff at those facilities are being trained on how to use the test kits.
The Abbott ID Now testing instruments can return results in 13 minutes, according to the company.
“The goal is not to replace the other methods of testing that are available, including larger sampling that could be sent to the public health lab,” Bowser said. “But it adds another tool that will help in the strategic decision-making around quarantine and isolation at these facilities and give the people their immediate access to those tests.”
DC pays out $90M in unemployment so far
Bowser said the D.C. Department of Employment Services has paid out $90 million to nearly 34,000 people who have filed unemployment claims. Overall, more than 72,000 District residents have filed for unemployment since mid-March.
By Friday, D.C. residents can apply for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance payments of up to $600 per week as provided under the federal CARES Act for people who aren’t eligible for usual unemployment benefits.
Bowser said workers should mail pua@dc.gov to be told when the PUA application system is up and running. DOES Director Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes added that gig workers and independent contractors who make money in more than one of the three area jurisdictions — D.C., Maryland and Virginia — should also email that address to discuss where they should file for unemployment.
Morris-Hughes also reiterated that District employers should look into the Shared Work Plan, which lets business owners divide up the work they have left among the workers they have, and allows the workers to get unemployment benefits to make up the difference. “This allows the employees to keep their jobs,” Bowser said.
Local leaders pledge to work together on relaxing restrictions
Local leaders in the broader D.C. area have agreed to work together when deciding how and when the area will relax pandemic-related restrictions.
In a meeting attended virtually this afternoon, members of the Council of Governments passed a resolution stating that a reopening strategy would be based on science and facts — data — versus a date.
Criteria for when restrictions could be eased haven’t yet been specified by a resolution. But they could include a drop in the number of new cases, the availability of personal protective equipment, and the availability of coronavirus tests and the ability to process them that would indicate whether new cases are linked to a specific source or reflect community-based infections.
An example of one consideration that might influence allowing people to get back to work would be whether enough hand sanitizer is available for workers who couldn’t all crowd around at bathroom sinks.
COG members also emphasized that social distancing needs to continue, the time to reopen is not now, so that there can be a sustained road to recovery without having to quickly lock everything back down.
COG member David Snyder, of Falls Church, pointed out, however, that in unanimously passing the resolution, jurisdictions do not give up the ability to act on their own.
“While the public health officials may set impossibly high bars to reopening, I do not view that this resolution prevents us from a gradual and prudent opening,” Snyder said. “In my view, we must get our economy moving, as the current situation is not sustainable.”
Financial help sought for Union Station due to pandemic
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is requesting $26 million for Union Station in new legislation, citing a severe drop in business and revenue due to the coronavirus.
Union Station is owned by the federal government, and Norton said it is normally the second busiest transportation station in the country, serving more than 42 million passengers and visitors each year.
Norton and members of Congress from Virginia and Maryland have written a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, requesting that the funding be included in the next major legislation related to the pandemic.
In the letter, the lawmakers said the $26 million is “to ensure the continued operations of Union Station for the next six months.”
Union Station’s primary revenue comes from its restaurants and shops, as well as its parking facility. But Union Station is far from the normally bustling facility it normally is, with restrictions on nonessential businesses in place in D.C., along with a stay-at-home order in place through May 15.
“As early as next month, Union Station could experience a revenue shortfall that would impede the operations and maintenance of the station, negatively impacting passenger services well beyond the end of this crisis,” the letter states.
In addition to Norton, the letter is signed by Maryland Reps. Anthony Brown, John Sarbanes, Jamie Raskin, David Trone and Dutch Ruppersberger; as well as Virginia Reps. Don Beyer and Jennifer Wexton.
Virginia lawmakers meet outside; protester plan ‘gridlock’
Lawmakers in Virginia held a one-day legislative session — outside and wearing masks — in a bid to practice social distancing.
We’re back in Richmond for Veto Session and ready to get to work. pic.twitter.com/GFNkEBSqsv
— Jennifer Carroll Foy (@JCarrollFoy) April 22, 2020
The House of Delegates met under a canopy outside the Capitol while the Senate met a large event space at the Virginia Science Museum a couple of miles away. Lawmakers will be seated far apart and are asked to wear masks.
They were asked not to wear ties, since Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, the nation’s only physician governor, pointed out at a recent news conference that the neckwear can harbor germs
At the same time, a group of people who oppose the governor’s stay-at-home order and other steps taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus, planned to protest around the Virginia State Capitol on Wednesday. The group, which goes by the name “Reopen Virginia,” says it plans to create “gridlock” in Richmond to protest the virus-fighting measures.
Protesters rallied near the statehouse in Maryland last weekend, calling on Gov. Larry Hogan to ease social distancing restrictions.
Hogan, who is preparing to release a recovery plan this week, has said it’s appropriate to lift some of the restrictions after at least 14 days of declining numbers of coronavirus cases — which is in line with guidance released last week by the White House.
DC deaths increase
The number of reported coronavirus deaths in District has jumped by 15, according to data released by the D.C. Department of Health. That ties the number of deaths reported on April 15, which stands as the highest number of new deaths. In the past week, D.C. had been averaging about six deaths per day from coronavirus.
There have been 127 coronavirus-related deaths in D.C. since the pandemic began.
A stark racial disparity is apparent in the disease’s death toll in the District. All told, 102 of the lives lost to the virus — or 80% — were African-Americans.
The total number of coronavirus cases in D.C. sits at 3,206. The District reported 108 new cases Wednesday.
There have been more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths reported across D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
In Maryland, the number of COVID-19 deaths increased by 47 for a total of 631, according to the health department. Overall, new reported coronavirus cases increased by 582, reaching a total of 14,775.
The total number of coronavirus cases across D.C., Maryland and Virginia now stands at more than 27,611.
Virginia has not yet updated its case numbers as of Wednesday morning.
- Sign up for news alerts from WTOP
- Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Coronavirus resources: Get and give help in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Virginia’s Inova Health System lays off hundreds due to financial challenges amid coronavirus
- Social distancing leaves some DC-area doctors with quiet practices
WTOP’s Abigail Constantino, Michelle Murillo, Rick Massimo, Kristi King and Mitchell Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
