Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Friday that the city would have to experience a decline in coronavirus cases before she starts reopening the local economy.
The D.C. mayor said that she agreed with President Donald Trump’s framework to reopen the economy.
Bowser said during a press conference on Friday, “We feel like it is a good framework and in line with what our thinking was in how to get through these phases.”
Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, the D.C. director of health, noted that the city would have to experience a decline in cases before entering phase one of reopening the economy.
“In order to enter even into phase one, a community must be experiencing a decline in cases observed over a two-week period,” Nesbitt said.
The D.C. mayor also announced that she is forming a working group to figure out how to streamline services when the city reopens, such as finding more equity for health care, education, and resources for lower-income communities.
Bowser will unveil more details about the working group next week.
In the meantime, Bowser hopes that the federal government employees will continue working from home.
“His plan continues to focus on telework as a good thing. I’m also hoping that means — and we’ll have more conversations about this with (Office of Personnel Management) — that they intend to maintain the federal government’s telework in the D.C. region,” Bowser said.
Bowser also said this week that the peak of the coronavirus in D.C. could come earlier than expected.
“I think D.C. residents and businesses are doing a fantastic job helping us contain the virus, push down the level of infection, and give us time to prepare for any medical surge that we’ll see,” Bowser said.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.