DC records more than 3,700 new COVID-19 cases this past weekend

More than 3,700 D.C. residents tested positive for COVID-19 this past weekend, according to new data released by the district’s Department of Health.

D.C. reported 3,763 new cases and one death over a three day period from Dec. 17 to 19, bringing their overall positive case total to 74,982. The city is currently averaging about 1,200 daily average cases.

On Friday, Washington D.C. announced its highest number of COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day, reporting 844 cases from the previous day. That exceeds the number of cases that D.C. saw on Wednesday, which was 508 cases for the day.

The city has also reimposed an indoor mask mandate on Tuesday and Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced it will  remain in place through Jan. 31 as a way to try to plateau the current surge in COVID-19 infections that could overwhelm the city’s health systems. 

The indoor mask mandate comes a little over a month after Bowser lifted the city’s mask requirement, citing increasing vaccination rates, relatively low hospitalizations and a desire to move toward individual risk management.   

Fox5DC also reported that Beers Elementary School, Boone Elementary School, Miner Elementary School, Stuart-Hobson Middle School and Takoma Elementary School, moved to virtual learning on Monday, due to COVID-19 concerns.

Bowser also said that all D.C. government employees and contractors will now be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19, with a booster shot, and will no longer have the option to test out of the mandate. 

The surge of cases comes as a new variant of COVID-19, omicron, makes its way around the U.S.

President Biden on Tuesday sought to strike a balance between reassuring Americans about the coming wave of omicron infections, but also to once again try to persuade the public to take precautions. 

During Tuesday remarks at the White House, Biden outlined a plan to increase testing, speed up the vaccination campaign and boost the capacity of hospitals that could see a surge in the coming weeks. He made it clear that although infections are rising, the nation is in a far different place than it was last year at the height of the pandemic.