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The Washington Post is providing this news free to all readers as a public service. Follow this story and more by <a href='https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/health-science-environment-alerts/?method=SURL&location=ART&initiative=FREE'>signing up for health, science, and environment email alerts</a>.

The number of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/dc-maryland-virginia-coronavirus-cases/">known coronavirus</a> cases in the District, Maryland and Virginia stands at 5,535 on Friday, with 2,759 cases in Maryland, 2,015 in Virginia and 761 in the District. The total of virus-related deaths was 47 in Virginia, 43 in Maryland and 15 in the District, for a total of 105 fatalities.

Here are some of the most significant and recent developments as the region responds <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/11/who-declares-pandemic-coronavirus-disease-covid-19/?tid=lk_inline_manual_4&itid=lk_inline_manual_4&tid=lk_inline_manual_4&itid=lk_inline_manual_4&tid=lk_inline_manual_4&itid=lk_inline_manual_4&tid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_3">to the pandemic</a> of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease covid-19:

Federal government gave D.C. a fraction of what it sought to fight coronavirus

• Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said Friday that officials estimate about 93,000 people could be become infected with covid-19 in the city, based on the District’s projections. See <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/04/03/coronavirus-dc-maryland-virginia-live-updates/#link-DGDVTXNVXVA37DWV3JGMR3GJYY" target=_blank>more about the models the city uses to project infections</a>.

• The Virginia House of Delegates is set to reconvene as scheduled on April 22, but is likely to do so at an outdoor location to help prevent members’ exposure to the novel coronavirus, Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) said.

• Virginia added 306 known coronavirus cases Friday, while Maryland added 427 and the District added 104, putting the number of known cases in the greater Washington region at 5,535. The number of fatalities is 104 in the two states and the District.

• George Washington University Hospital will begin drive-through testing for the novel coronavirus beginning Monday in Foggy Bottom.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/stay-at-home-maryland-virginia-dc/2020/03/30/167cba86-72a0-11ea-85cb-8670579b863d_story.html">What a stay-at-home order means for you</a> | <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/dc-maryland-virginia-coronavirus-cases/">Known coronavirus cases in the region</a> | <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/03/07/maryland-virginia-dc-coronavirus/">Coronavirus in the DMV: What you need to know</a> | <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/getting-tested-for-coronavirus-in-virginia-maryland-dc/2020/03/26/5e19f608-6de9-11ea-a3ec-70d7479d83f0_story.html">How to get tested</a> | <a href="https://hosted-washpost.submissionplatform.com/sub/hosted/5e7bd9faf362630035018215">Has someone close to you died of covid-19? Share your story.</a>

Please read <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-coronavirus-projection-93000/2020/04/03/35626692-75b3-11ea-a9bd-9f8b593300d0_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_14" target=_blank>The Post’s continuing coverage</a> of the coronavirus crisis.

Tom Jackman

Loudoun County Schools close

A Loudoun County Public Schools employee who gave out laptop computers to families at an elementary school on Tuesday has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Loudoun schools Superintendent Eric Williams announced in an email Friday. The diagnosis marks at least the 12th staffer to test positive for coronavirus within the Loudoun school system.

The staffer, who has not been publicly identified, last distributed laptops to students at Madison’s Trust Elementary School in the Brambleton area on Tuesday. The staffer began exhibiting symptoms on Thursday and tested positive on Friday, Williams said. That person is now self-isolating.

The Loudoun County Health Department is investigating whether the staffer had “close contact” with any school affiliates in the 48-hour period leading up to the individual’s development of symptoms, Williams wrote. He noted the Virginia Department of Health defines close contact as remaining within six feet of an infected person for 10 minutes or more. Loudoun staff members followed social-distancing guidelines throughout the laptop distribution process, Williams wrote. That guidance called for staffers to maintain six feet of distance from one another and also from the arriving families, place each device on a table, step back six feet, then allow students or parents to step forward to pick up the computer.

The Loudoun school system, which serves 84,000 students, spent about $5 million last month to purchase more than 114,000 Chromebook laptops for students in third- through 12th-grade, a bid to facilitate remote learning for all students. Officials began delivering the laptops a little more than a week ago.

Hannah Natanson

Union Station

Union Station in Washington will begin closing at 11 p.m. starting tonight, and reopening at 5 a.m. every morning, the Federal Railroad Administration announced Friday evening.

The administration said it imposed the overnight closing at the request of Amtrak, and that it will continue for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. The closing should have “minimal practical effects” due to the already limited activity in the station, the railroad administration said. The closure will not impede people leaving the station, if a train arrives after 11 p.m.

The closure should not affect MARC, VRE and Metro trains which are not scheduled to run during the 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. span, the railroad administration said.

Virus Outbreak Printed Face Shields

Nearly three dozen Maryland doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals who care for the elderly urged Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Friday to mandate that testing for covid-19 take place inside nursing homes and assisted living centers, and that they be given more masks and other protective gear — predicting that that vulnerable population alone could overwhelm the state’s hospital system if more aggressive steps aren’t taken to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus inside such facilities.

Also Friday, Montgomery County put out an urgent call for personal protective equipment. The county’s stock of gloves, masks and surgical gowns for first responders and county Health and Human Services employees will last only two to three more weeks, said the county’s head of emergency management, Earl Stoddard.

“We have seen what happens when the coronavirus gets into a long-term care facility,” read the letter co-signed by Nicholas Schor, the local president of the American Geriatric Society, and 34 other health-care professionals, including executives of nursing homes and assisted living centers. The letter cited recent outbreaks in elderly care facilities across the country, including one in Carroll County, where the Pleasant View Nursing Home has had 77 residents and staff test positive, with five deaths so far.

“Alarmingly, many patients there tested positive in the absence of symptoms,” the letter said. “In the absence of the testing proposed above, our state facilities and their residents will be devastated by covid-19.” 

The letter was sent to Hogan (R) just before the governor announced Friday that he has ordered nursing home employees to wear masks at all times, citing the fact that 60 of those facilities in the state have at least one case of coronavirus infection.

Earlier Friday, the federal Centers for Disease Control recommended that more testing be done inside senior homes and that those who test positive be isolated from those whose results are negative — with each category of residents being tended to by separate caregivers.

That guidance leaves out assisted-living centers, which in Maryland are home to about 15,000 elderly residents, said Roy Fried, a senior care physician in Montgomery County who co-wrote the letter to Hogan.

In a spreadsheet analysis attached to the letter, Fried projected that nearly 20,000 elderly residents inside those facilities will become sick enough to need hospitalization and that about 10,500 may die.

“This is just an estimate, just to give you a sense of the freight train that is bearing down on our hospitals,” Fried said in an interview. “We want everybody to get tested, like now. So, we can segregate the positives and the negatives.” Fried noted that workers in those facilities will often be working with 10 patients on a given day, helping to feed, bathe and clothe them.

“They’re doing it with gloves, but they don’t have masks for everybody,” he said. “They don’t even have enough masks in the hospitals. Can you imagine what it’s like in these assisted living facilities?” 

Montgomery has more shipments of PPE on the way, but officials are wary of counting on those supplies until they arrive. On multiple occasions, Stoddard said, manufacturers have called to delay orders, sometimes even on the scheduled delivery date. “If we get nothing soon, we only have two to three weeks’ worth,” Stoddard said. “That’s what makes us nervous.” 

 Demand for PPE is rapidly growing. In recent weeks, dozens of private organizations, including funeral homes and providers of in-home care, have appealed to the local government for PPE, Stoddard said.

At a news conference Thursday, Maryland state officials said employees at all nursing homes must start wearing full PPE to treat patients. In Montgomery, where 10 nursing homes have reported cases of covid-19, all nursing homes have been provided with a two-week supply of PPE, Stoddard said — but not more than that. “Some people have asked for two months', three months’ worth,” he said. “I mean, we’re not in the situation to provide that. For anyone.” 

Antonio Olivo

Rebecca Tan

Participants in the Peoples Climate March

The District government is temporarily suspending enforcement of a nickel tax on single-use plastic bags in response to the coronavirus. The tax took effect in 2009 to encourage residents to use reusable bags and reduce plastic pollution, and it funds river cleanup efforts. Businesses that do not levy the tax are fined.

Mike Matthews, a spokesman for the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment, said officials are suspending enforcement for the first time as a “response to hardships many District residents are facing related to covid-19,” but they still urge companies to comply.

Fenit Nirappil

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority closes an additional seventeen subway train stations, USA - 25 Mar 2020

Metro on Monday will start a new closing schedule, which corresponds with state and local governments issuing stay-at-home orders and allows the transit service to protect more staff by reducing shifts.

The new closing hours will be in effect indefinitely, seven days a week. Metrorail will open at 5 a.m. during the week, 8 a.m. on weekends, and close at 9 p.m. Metrobus service begins at varying times according to the routes, and will stop at 11 p.m. each day, the transit agency said.

Metro has reduced service several times since mid-March as it sought to discourage all but essential riders to use public transportation because of the possibility that crowded buses and rail cars could help the coronavirus spread. The agency has also tried to limit shifts to protect its workers, while it has closed down 19 rail stations and nine station entrances to limit staff and save on disinfectant supplies.

This weekend, Metro will run the same schedule it ran last weekend, with Metrorail operating from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m., with waits of between 10 and 30 minutes on all lines. Metrobus runs until 11 p.m., operating just 27 of its most-used routes.

Ten Metro employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, including four bus operators, according to Metro. The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which represents Metro operators, has called for fewer service shifts and better protective equipment to protect its workers.

The D.C. Streetcar is also modifying its hours. The District Department of Transportation said that starting Saturday, the streetcar would operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. during the week.

The streetcar is to be used for essential trips only, the department said, and passengers are encouraged to allow extra travel time since the streetcars will only arrive about every 20 minutes. 

Justin George

Virus Outbreak Maryland

Fran Phillips, Maryland’s deputy secretary of public health, said Friday that state and public health officials are still studying models to show when Maryland is likely to hit its peak number of coronavirus cases.

“It is not something that we have clarity on at this point,” Phillips said. “We are trying to understand if these models somehow converge and what their meaning is for us here in Maryland.”

She said the Maryland Covid-19 Response Team Task Force, created by Gov. Larry Hogan (R), is interpreting the modeling that has been done. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said earlier this week that Virginia’s cases could surge in late April or late May, according to modeling.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said Friday that its modeling shows that 1 in 7 residents could become infected. “I don’t have a date, I don’t have a number for you,” she said. “I can say we are looking at all of these models."

Phillips said that based on the increase in cases, it is clear that Maryland “is on the beginning of a curve. The curve is going up, and we are accelerating the percentage of new cases.”

Ovetta Wiggins

Kennedy Townsend Missing Relatives

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signed an executive order on Friday prohibiting mortgage lenders from initiating a foreclosure process and banning the repossessions of vehicles and mobile homes. The order is an expansion of a previous one that prohibited residential evictions and utility shut-offs.

“We’re going to continue to do everything that we possibly can to help get Marylanders through this, to help them weather the storm and get back on their feet and help them recover,” he said. Similar orders have been signed in New Jersey, Florida and Wisconsin.

Hogan said 70 banks and financial institutions have agreed to provide a 90-day period of forbearance and deferral on mortgages. Homeowners must contact their banks to participate. Hogan also broadened the order to prohibit evictions of commercial properties.

He said he is also directing the state commissioner of financial regulation to suspend certain lending limits by banks on a case-by-case basis in an effort to make more credit available to small businesses that are struggling. All state agencies will also suspend debt collection activities.

Virus Outbreak Virginia

The staff at a Richmond-area rehabilitation facility, which lost its 17th resident to covid-19 this week, are having to re-use masks and other protective gear because of persistent shortages.

Canterbury Rehabilitation &amp; Healthcare Center, home to one of the largest known coronavirus outbreaks in the greater Washington area, announced its latest death Friday. Officials at the 190-bed facility in Henrico County said a day earlier that it had tested all residents and most of its staff this week. It found that 108 residents and 25 employees were infected with the virus.

Danny Avula, director of the Richmond and Henrico County health districts, said at a Thursday news conference that Canterbury continues to suffer from a lack of personal protective equipment, known as PPE.

“We’ve had to adapt what we call crisis-time use of PPE,” Avula said. “They’re using N95 masks for more than one day at a time. They’re using cloth masks to cover their N95 masks to increase the life span of those. They’re placing those N95s in paper bags on their exit and trying to extend the life of every piece that they can. Face shields and gowns — we’re starting to move more to permanent things that can be disinfected in between uses. It’s an extreme challenge.”

Laura Vozzella

D.C. officials said Friday they have deployed 17 hand-washing stations throughout the city to help mitigate coronavirus risks.

The stations were erected as advocates raise concerns about how people experiencing homelessness and others without regular access to sanitary facilities can reduce their risk of being exposed to the novel coronavirus. At least two stations were deployed near known homeless encampments: one beneath a railroad underpass at First and M streets NW and another at 21st and E streets NW.

M Street and Wisconsin Avenue NW corner by the COS store; Albemarle Street and Wisconsin Avenue NW corner, on Albemarle by the Tenleytown-AU Metro station entrance; Dupont Circle; 21st and E streets encampment: SE corner of 21st and E streets; Georgia and Missouri avenues by the northbound bus station on Georgia in front of Walmart; Brookland Metro station; 14th Street and Park Road: Columbia Plaza; Eastern Market station; Bladensburg/Florida Avenue intersection; Safeway near Waterfront Metro; Malcolm X and Martin Luther King avenues in front of the Popeyes; East Capitol Street and Benning Road at the Shrimp Boat; Second and M streets NE near REI; Union Station near the Metro escalators; Franklin Park NW sidewalk; Farragut Square: Sidewalk near the corner of K and 17th streets NW; Third Street and Virginia Avenue SE.

Justin Wm. Moyer

Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Friday that the coronavirus is in 60 nursing homes across Maryland, and state officials are ordering staff at the facilities to wear masks at all times.

Hogan said Pleasant View Nursing Home in Carroll County, where 42 patients were transferred to 14 hospitals in the past week, has 99 cases of the virus among residents and staff. Five people from the facility have died.

“This virus is everywhere and it is a threat to nearly everyone,” Hogan said, warning residents not to be complacent in thinking that the virus can only affect older people.

“The reality is this disease does not discriminate and no one is immune,” he said. “I want to make sure everyone understands the gravity of the situation that we’re facing in the weeks ahead.” 

The governor urged residents to stay home and to continue to practice social distancing. “I wish that I could tell you when we’re going to turn the corner,” Hogan said. “Unfortunately I’m not able to do that. We simply don’t know just how bad things are going to get or exactly how long this is going to last.” 

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced Friday that he has chosen three convention centers around the state to expand hospital capacity for an expected surge in coronavirus patients, which he said was projected to peak sometime in May.

They are: the Dulles Expo Center in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, which can accommodate 315 acute or 510 non-acute beds; the Hampton Convention Center, which could hold 60 acute or 580 non-acute beds; and the Richmond Convention Center, which could house 432 acute or 758 non-acute beds.

Northam said the state is stepping back from a plan to use the former Exxon Mobil campus in the Merrifield area of Fairfax County, because the Dulles Expo site can be prepared more quickly. He also said the search continues in the western and southwest corners of the state should additional space be needed.

Northam said the next step is to complete contracts, design and construction, a process that he said could be completed in six weeks. “These will be to free up capacity in the existing hospital system,” he said. “Our models look at May as the time when the surge is most likely to occur.”

Northam said the surge could hit any time that month. He declined to share any projections for how many Virginians might become infected, but reiterated his call for people to stay home as much as possible to slow the spread and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.

“The point that I would make to Virginians is, if you don’t abide by our guidelines … you’re going to get it,” said Northam, a physician. “I’ve been in this business for over 30 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pathogen … that is as contagious as this is.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser holds a press conference to update the city on the COVID-19 crisis, on April 02 in Washington, DC.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced Friday that the city projects one in seven residents will contract coronavirus, with the nation’s capital seeing a peak in hospitalized patients around late June and early July. But city government officials are relying on a different model than the one used by the federal government when White House officials <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/01/lockdown-coronavirus-california-data/?tid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_95">said this week that the outbreak</a> would peak later this month.

In neighboring Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said Wednesday morning that he expects to see a peak in late April or late May. But he has not quantified the projection for Virginians like Bowser (D) has. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has not released formal projections for his state.

There have been a number of different models projecting the trajectory of the coronavirus outbreak from private consultants, universities and more. Two, in particular, appear to be shaping government policy. The key difference is how the models calculate the benefits of social distancing.

Using a model developed by Penn Medicine, the D.C. government has determined it will need an additional 2,705 intensive care unit beds, while a model developed by the University of Washington and used by the federal government shows the city would only need 47 more. The city’s model also shows D.C. hospitals would need more than 1,000 additional ventilators at the end of June, while the federal model says the District would not need any more than in currently has.

What does the difference in models mean? In short, the D.C. government is bracing for the worst. And using the more dire model is essentially a way to be safe rather than sorry. “We pray it’s wrong. We do,” Bowser said. “But we are looking at all of the modeling and we don’t think one that says we don’t need any additional beds is a model that would be safe preparation for the residents of the District of Columbia.” 

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/coronavirus-peak-dc-maryland-virginia/2020/04/03/0636bc6c-75cf-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_100" target=_blank>Read the full story</a> of why the models are different and what it means for residents in the greater Washington region.

The Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday that a second VA patient in the District has died of complications related to the novel coronavirus. The patient, “in their 70s,” died at the VA hospital in Washington on April 2.

Another patient, “in their 50s,” died at the VA Hospital of covid-19 on March 27. The VA has declined to say whether the victims were men or women.

The VA said it is treating 17 virus cases in the District VA hospital, one more than on Thursday, and it is monitoring 40 outpatient cases, five more than on Thursday.

The VA reported that it has 2,184 coronavirus cases nationwide, 263 more than on Thursday, and 78 deaths, 10 more than on Thursday.

Michael Ruane

Two additional inmates and 10 civilians have tested positive for covid-19 within Maryland’s sprawling prison system, officials said Friday. That brings the total confirmed positive cases from the state’s prisons to 15 — three inmates, four correctional officers and eight contract workers, officials said.

“In the environment that we have, we’re doing everything in our power to keep people safe,” Robert Green, secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said in an interview. “We’re working to save Marylanders’ lives.”

Green’s agency also includes parole and probation operations. Two of those employees — a supervisor in Hagerstown and an agent in Baltimore — also have tested positive. “Both are recovering well, and I believe one will be returning to work soon,” Green said.

The agency oversees about 18,000 inmates in two dozen facilities as well as 2,100 inmates in the Baltimore City jail. Because of their confined, close quarters, prisons and jails across the country are highly susceptible to the spread of illnesses. In Maryland, the positive tests thus far are a small fraction of all inmates and workers but are spread across seven facilities in Jessup, Baltimore and Hagerstown.

The four correctional officers who tested positive are being quarantined at home for at least 14 days, Green said. The three inmates — two men at the Jessup Correctional Institution and one woman at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women, also in Jessup — have been isolated from other inmates. Green declined to say exactly how they’re being isolated.

Many prisons — including those in Maryland — have “negative pressure” cells with ventilation systems that keep air from circulating out into the general population. Prison officials, working with local health departments, have tried to track any spread from the inmates and employees. Officials would not say how many inmates or employees may be awaiting test results.

“This is a marathon. This is a long-term crisis,” Green said. “We’re going to evolve at every level we can.”

Dan Morse

Capital Bikeshare announced Friday it will provide free 30-day memberships to essential workers in the D.C. region, to include people working in health care, food service, food retail and other necessary industries. It will enable those working during the pandemic to use one of 4,300 bikes available at 500 stations in and around Washington.

The offer is good in the seven jurisdictions that make up Capital Bikeshare: the District, Arlington County, Alexandria city, Fairfax County, Falls Church city, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. The enrollment is free, and a free membership will not auto-renew into a paid membership, Capital Bikeshare said. The bike-share group said it would consider extending the free memberships if the pandemic continues.

“We are extremely thankful for all of the essential workers who are providing critical services during this unprecedented public health emergency,” said Jeff Marootian, director of the District’s Department of Transportation. “This free membership is one way that we can support our neighbors, and ensure that they have a safe, reliable option for their commutes.”

Essential workers can enroll now through May 1 for unlimited 30-minute trips for 30 days. In addition, Capital Bikeshare users can purchase $1 Single Ride Passes for essential trips, in both the Capital Bikeshare and Lyft apps, through May 31. Employers who want to enroll their staff, as well as essential workers who want to enroll directly, should email <a href="mailto:HeroBikes@Lyft.com">HeroBikes@Lyft.com</a>.

Capital Bikeshare said it was also taking extra steps to keep the bikes free of infection. In addition to disinfecting bikes every time they are returned to the depot, rebalancers are cleaning every bike at every station they visit, focusing on high traffic stations, the organization said. The team disinfects all high contact surfaces of bikes, with a focus on the most frequently used bikes. High contact surfaces on vans used to transport bikes are also being disinfected at the start of each shift, and associates are wearing gloves when handling bikes.

The Virginia House of Delegates is set to reconvene as scheduled on April 22, but is likely to do so at an outdoor location to help prevent members’ exposure to the novel coronavirus, Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) said Friday.

“Out of my deep concern for the health and safety of the membership, staff, the public and their families, it is my preference that we hold the session outside with a contingency option for an inside location,” Filler-Corn said.

She said she had instructed House Clerk Suzette Denslow to scout out indoor and outdoor locations in Richmond for the 100-member body to meet, but had not yet decided on one.

They have, however, ruled one out: “We will not be convening in the House chamber,” Filler-Corn said.

The House chamber in the Capitol is crowded during sessions, with members sitting close to one another in rows of wooden desks. It would be impossible to observe social distancing guidelines of six feet of separation there.

Filler-Corn said she was authorized under House rules to move the location of the session in case of an emergency or special circumstances. Lawmakers and Gov. Ralph Northam (D) have been discussing what to do about the April 22 session, which is an annual gathering to review vetoes and amendments issued by the governor.

This year, Northam intends to suggest changes to the two-year, $135 billion spending plan adopted last month by the General Assembly because of the extraordinary costs and economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.

Filler-Corn said she has been in regular contact with the governor’s office about her plans, and that she had notified Republican leaders.

It was unclear Friday what the state Senate might decide to do. Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), the majority leader, said the Senate’s plans are still uncertain.

Gregory S. Schneider

Fathers working from home and handling young children

Steve Centrella’s video conference calls from his D.C. home are now held to the sound of shuffling Legos and his 4-year-old son singing “cheetahs speed and lizards glide!” Prithvi Raj, a father of three in Manhattan, leads meetings while bouncing a 2-month-old infant on his lap. Levi Coldiron, in North Carolina, has become used to talking to his boss while his 4-year-old daughter swings from the fireplace mantle and shrieks, “The floor is lava!”

As millions of Americans work from home with their children nearby because of the coronavirus pandemic, parents everywhere have become “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/14/she-was-in-a-hippity-hoppity-mood-bbc-dad-breaks-silence/?tid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_139">the BBC Dad</a>,” the father whose live broadcast interview went viral three years ago when his daughter strutted into the room. Zoom calls now begin with disclaimers about the kids crying in the background. Meetings are scheduled around nap time. The wall between work life and family life has crumbled.

And as a result, fatherhood is more visible than ever before.

“The fact that men are now plopping their babies in their laps while taking conference calls, showing that men, too, do this work, is really important,” said Caitlyn Collins, a Washington University sociologist focused on gender and families.

The heaviest burden of the pandemic is undoubtedly falling on women, who studies show still spend more of their day than men caring for children, doing the laundry, cleaning the house and preparing meals. But some sociologists have begun to wonder whether men will use this extra time at home to step up and take on more of the child-care and household chores. With fatherhood quite literally on display in the virtual workplace, will dads invest more time in taking care of their children? And will they be applauded by their colleagues for doing the same work that women have been doing forever?

Read the full story <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/04/03/dads-work-from-home-coronavirus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_143" target=_blank>here</a>.

Samantha Schmidt

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said Friday that officials estimate about 93,000 people could become infected with the coronavirus in the city, based on the District’s projections.

She said the figures are cumulative over the course of the public health emergency. It represents people who have been infected and have recovered, Bowser said.

“This is a tough number to have to report,” Bowser said. “We think that we’d rather be on the side of underestimating the impacts of social distancing than presenting too rosy a picture.”

Bowser said officials expect that most of the 93,000 people will recover from the virus. She said officials also estimate that hundreds of people could die of the virus in the District.

Known coronavirus cases in D.C., Maryland and Virginia

“We expect that we could experience a range of loss of life in our city,” she said. “The mild estimate is that 220 people would succumb to the disease. A moderate would be 440 and the severe estimate would be more than 1,000 people.”

The District has 761 covid-19 cases, according to a Washington Post analysis. Fifteen people have died of the virus in the District.

City officials said they need more than 2,700 new intensive care unit beds for the summer. The District has less than 100 available now. Officials said they are pushing hospitals to plan to exclusively serve people with severe covid-19 cases while treating patients with more mild symptoms and other illnesses at alternative facilities.

“This is certainly a global pandemic of proportions that none of us could have predicted, but we will get through this. We will get through the other side of this, and we will get back to life in our beautiful, thriving city,” Bowser said.

Darran Simon

Julia Cheng woke that Friday thinking, like always, about the yearbook.

Rumors had filled high school hallways and group chats for days: Fairfax County Public Schools would close because of the novel <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/02/28/what-you-need-know-about-coronavirus/?tid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_158">coronavirus</a>. Cheng, a Chantilly High School senior and yearbook editor in chief, was skeptical. After four years, she knew how much administrators loathed canceling class.

Still, the book wasn’t quite done, print deadlines were approaching, and she couldn’t quash her worry. When Cheng, 18, awoke at 6:42 a.m., she checked her phone first.

Awaiting her were more than 40 texts, all from yearbook staff.

“Oh my goodness I’m so upset,” texted Vietthao Ho, Cheng’s co-editor, who was waking up five miles away, equally fixated on the yearbook.

It was true: Gov. Ralph Northam (D) had ordered Virginia public schools shut for two weeks, a closure he would later extend through the end of the school year. Cheng and Ho had 10 days to finish 60 pages and deliver them to the printing company. They had no way to access drafts stored on school computers.

“Wat,” messaged one staffer, “are we gonna do now.”

Read full story <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/high-school-yearbooks-coronavirus/2020/04/03/ef13a2aa-6ea0-11ea-aa80-c2470c6b2034_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_166" target=_blank>here</a>.

A steady stream of donors dropped off gloves, masks, cleaning supplies and shelf-stable food Friday at Arlington’s Central Library, part of a county-sponsored donation site for its local nonprofit groups, nursing homes and medical centers.

“Many of our nonprofits need help,” said Libby Garvey, chair of the Arlington County Board. “Many of our residents want to help. Our library is empty, we’ve got a good drive-through and our employees are here to help.”

Two dozen masked and gloved workers collected the donations from vehicle trunks and back seats, catalogued and sorted them, then planned to let them sit for 72 hours so any stray virus on the bags and boxes would die. The county emergency management office will distribute the goods to local agencies.

“I was in health care for 15 years … and the medical community must be terrified,” said Darden Sachs, 40, who brought about five boxes of N95 masks, gloves and masks and two or three bins worth of food collected by her neighbors in Arlington Forest.

Mary Ellen Gannon, 76, a retired nurse and a member of the Virginia Hospital Center Medical Brigade, a volunteer group separate from the hospital, said her group has a warehouse full of supplies they use for volunteer work in Honduras.

“We want to share the wealth,” she said.

UPDATE: As of 3 p.m., 507 donors had stopped by the library. Here is what they brought: 3484 food items, 269 boxes of N95 masks, 323 boxes of surgical masks, 595 boxes of gloves, 75 surgical gowns, 740 homemade masks and 983 cleaning supplies.

Patricia Sullivan

The number of covid-19 cases in the national capital region sailed past 5,000 on Friday morning as fatalities climbed past the 100 mark.

The District added 104 new cases, its largest single-day increase. Of its 761 known patients, 15 have died.

Maryland added 427 cases and six new deaths. Prince George’s County saw the biggest jump in numbers, with 90 new cases, while neighboring Montgomery County, which has reported nine deaths, added 68 new cases.

In Virginia, health officials reported four new deaths and 306 new infections for a total caseload of 2,015. The Washington Post counts three additional cases in Virginia — one each in Hanover, Powhatan and Stafford counties — because they were dropped by the state counts in recent days. The Post is seeking clarification on the discrepancy.

D.C. projects about 93,000 people could become infected; coronavirus cases top 5,000 in Washington region

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