D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday signed an executive order that extends the public health emergency for the coronavirus to May 15 and requires more people to wear masks.
The extension applies to all the previous mayor’s orders, including the closures of schools and nonessential businesses, as well as the stay-at-home order, the ban on gatherings and a hiring freeze on the city government.
In addition to grocery store workers and customers, it requires hotel workers and guests, private transportation providers and riders to wear face coverings, and strongly encourages other workers and individuals who use public transportation to do the same.
Miss Bowser also provided an in-depth briefing on the actions the city is taking to protect vulnerable populations, like inmates at the D.C. Jail, people experiencing homelessness, people in long term care facilities and blacks in the city who make up 75% of the deaths from COVID-19.
“We cannot wait until the pandemic is over to make every effort to change the trajectory of African Americans in our city,” Miss Bowser said.
The mayor tapped the Department of Health Care Finance to identify black residents with underlying conditions and provide them with information to lessen their risk.
• Sophie Kaplan can be reached at skaplan@washingtontimes.com.
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