Schools closures extended in Maryland and D.C.; leaders say region is not ready to reopen

The decisions came on a day when area leaders assured residents they are cooperating to chart a path out of the pandemic's social and economic shutdown, even as President Trump sought to undermine the cautious approach via social media.

District Mayor Muriel Bowser's decision to end the school year on May 29 without resuming in-person instruction puts her city in line with Virginia, which has moved to online school instruction for the remainder of the academic year. Bowser said the early wrap-up will "preserve" three weeks of instructional time, indicating that the 2020-2021 year could start early for at least some students.

Bowser, a Democrat, said the District will offer summer school, though it was unclear whether that would be in-person or remotely. She promised more information on May 15. 

While Bowser said D.C. public charter schools -- which educate around 47 percent of the city's 100,000 students -- would follow a similar schedule, some charter schools have said they plan to continue remote learning beyond May 29. KIPP DC - the city's largest charter network -- will continue distance learning this academic year until June 12.

Maryland State School Superintendent Karen Salmon extended school closures from April 24 until May 15. She said the state will use the next month to decide how to move forward and will continue to develop plans for additional digital learning and ways to recover lost instructional time during the summer.

 

Maryland schools began distance learning earlier this week, and Salmon has raised the possibility of remote learning continuing in the fall, telling a group of state lawmakers recently that she was "not sure that we are going to be doing school in the same way going forward."

The leader of Maryland's largest school system questioned why the state stopped short of addressing the full school year, saying many want greater certainty. "I don't understand why doing it in three- or four-week increments makes more sense," said Montgomery County Superintendent Jack Smith.

Salmon, however, said she believes closure decisions should be made "incrementally, to see where we are in another month."

"We don't know what's going to happen and I certainly don't want to dash the hopes of many children and parents that there might be some other ways to do public school going forward. That's the reason I decided to do that."

Friday's announcements came as the number of covid-related deaths surpassed 800 in the District, Maryland and Virginia, with the number of infections reaching 21,579.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said he expects the surging caseload to peak and start to decline soon, a key turning point in reopening the state economy. 

Hogan, who is chair of the National Governors Association, said he agreed with many elements of the plan laid out by President Donald Trump Thursday for governors to reopen commerce in their states, including the guidance that social distancing measures should not be lifted until a state sees 14 days with declining numbers of new confirmed cases.

He said decisions to ease restrictions will be made in concert with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Bowser.

"All three of us are in a similar situation in that our numbers are all going up, rather than down," Hogan said, referring to rising deaths, hospitalizations and ICU bed use.

"None of the governors believe you can just flip a switch and get everything back to normal," said Hogan. 

Northam (D) made similar remarks during his briefing, noting that the state's number of cases is still climbing but acknowledging the desire to ease the economic pain.

About 50 people protested outside the Executive Mansion in Richmond on Thursday, calling for an end to the restrictions. Almost none wore masks. Northam called on the protesters to think about others.

"They're putting themselves at risk but perhaps as important they're putting all of us at risk," he said. The normally mild-mannered governor seemed to grow angry as he described "the pain and agony" he said he sees in the faces of first responders.

"We all have the right to protest but while we're fighting this biological war I would say, let's join the team, let's do everything we can," he said.

Northam dismissed a tweet from President Trump that encouraged the protesters.

"LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!" Trump tweeted, adding gun laws into the mix. Trump issued similar tweets about Minnesota and Michigan, two states that also have seen public protests against the coronavirus-shutdown restrictions put in place by Democratic governors.

"As the governor of the commonwealth of Virginia, I - along with my staff - are fighting a biological war," Northam said. "I do not have time to involve myself in Twitter wars. I will continue to do everything that I can to keep Virginia safe and to save lives."

It was a discordant note on a day when the region's leaders spoke with each other by phone and reported continuing efforts to expand capacity for treating coronavirus patients.

Hogan said he, Northam and Bowser agreed it would be premature to lift any restrictions right now. "We're all in a some part of a phase of talking about the gradual reopening but not able to start that right yet. And we all are in agreement that we want to do that in a way that's cooperative," Hogan said.

Hogan also responded to Republican lawmakers in rural parts of the state who have questioned his call for residents to wear face coverings when they enter stores or ride public transportation. The order takes effect Saturday.

While some have claimed wearing masks infringes on their rights, Hogan said, not wearing them "infringes on your neighbor's rights."

Bowser said the city would construct 500 beds for coronavirus patients in the city's convention center in coming weeks. With elective surgeries on hold, the city's hospital are only at 68 percent capacity, officials said. The extra beds are a backstop in case they're needed for patients who do not need to be in the intensive care unit.

"We will be prepared for the worst-case scenario, but our goal is never to use the convention center," Bowser said.

The city currently has the capacity to test 300 people per day. John Falcicchio, the mayor's chief of staff, said that they often have far more people who call to schedule testing than who show up. On Wednesday, he said the city tested 113 people. He said the city hopes to be able to test for virus antibodies at its hospitals in May. 

Northam issued an executive order aimed at boosting the state's health-care workforce, including allowing fourth-year medical students to practice in hospitals without direct supervision.

The order, which runes through June 10, expands options for telemedicine, make it easier for health-care providers licensed by other states to practice in Virginia, ease restrictions for licensed nurse practitioners to prescribe or treat patients and permit interns and residents with temporary training licenses to practice without supervision.

Northam said a major shipment of personal protective equipment, or PPE, had arrived in Virginia from a private contractor. But a coalition of local governments and public safety agencies said a separate order for about half a million N95 respirator masks, expected from Holland this week, has gone missing.

The nonprofit Northern Virginia Emergency Response System, which ordered the masks on behalf of 23 local governments and volunteer fire departments, said the supplier informed the group that the shipment was seized by the U.S. government amid a scramble by the Trump administration to procure more protective gear for various parts of the country.

But the Federal Emergency Management Agency strongly denied that the federal government intercepted the shipment. "Reports of FEMA commandeering or rerouting such supplies are false," an agency spokesman said Friday afternoon. "PPE being distributed internally within the United States is not being seized or rerouted by FEMA."

The supplier, Theia Industries, did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Emergency workers and some hospital workers in Northern Virginia will have to wait until at least late June for a new shipment to arrive, said Kristin Nickerson, executive director of the coalition, which helps coordinate emergency response efforts in the region.

Virginia added 602 new coronavirus infections Friday, its highest single-day increase so far. The state also reported 23 new deaths, including six in Fairfax. 

The District reported 126 new infections and five new deaths: two patients in their 60s, a 72-year-old woman, an 82-year-old man and a 91-year-old woman. The racial disparities in fatalities also continued to widen: as of Friday, black residents represent 47 percent of total cases but 77 percent of total deaths. 

Maryland added 787 new cases, its highest number in nine days. Total fatalities in Maryland swelled to 499, including eight new deaths in Prince George's County.