The spread of the omicron variant is continuing to slow in the D.C. area, an encouraging sign for a region weary of the pandemic entering its third year.
The number of weekly COVID cases is down in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, after spiking earlier in the month.
Hospitalizations, which had been peaking earlier in Jan., are also trending downward in the District and Maryland. The 7-day moving average remains high in Virginia, but the latest figures indicate the numbers may be starting to plateau.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently told the U.S. House select subcommittee on the coronavirus that she was encouraged by the latest trends in the District.
“Now we see all of our daily metrics improving,” Bowser said last week, noting that the numbers were higher in late Dec. and early January. “Weekly case rate, daily case rate, hospitalizations and even our vaccination numbers (are) improving as we speak.”
Bowser and others, including state governors who testified before the House panel, said that federal funding approved by Congress last year helped them address a wide range of issues. The $2 trillion CARES Act included billions of dollars for D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
The District had largely held COVID cases in check last year, before becoming a hot spot in late Dec. as the omicron variant quickly spread.
But in recent weeks, the spread has slowed. The weekly case rate has dropped close to 40%, down to about 503 cases per 100,000 people from 820 cases per 100,000 a month ago.
D.C. this week opened two more COVID Centers in Wards 5 and 6, where people can get access to vaccinations, boosters, take-home rapid antigen tests and PCR tests. The city plans to soon have centers open in every ward of the District.
D.C. on Jan. 15 implemented a requirement that anyone 12 or older must show proof of at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine to enter various businesses, including restaurants, bars and gyms.
No similar requirement is in place for businesses in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
D.C. is still scheduled to begin a broader vaccination requirement on Feb. 15, calling for people to have at least two doses of a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine for those 12 and older.
Several Republican members of Congress have sharply criticized D.C.’s vaccine mandate. Rep. Warren Davidson, of Ohio, was condemned by Jewish organizations after he tweeted that people shouldn’t comply and included a Nazi-era document with a swastika.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a GOP lawmaker from Kentucky, tweeted this month that his staff would not comply with the D.C. vaccine requirement for restaurants and would get meals elsewhere. Massie said last week that he tested positive for COVID-19. He said he is not vaccinated but that his symptoms were mild.
Dozens of members of Congress have tested positive for the virus as the omicron variant has spread since December.
The first documented case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was announced two years ago this month, in Washington state.
