DC health chief says city may not reopen for three months

President Trump has expressed optimism that cities and states can quickly lift restrictions and reopen their economies shuttered by the pandemic. But on Wednesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. officials took a much more measured view, saying the hope is for a limited return to normal in the nation’s capital in late May — but that it could also be delayed into the summer months.

The announcement came at a public townhall discussion for Bowser’s Reopen D.C. Advisory Group, which has been created to chart a course for how and when to reopen the city. While the current stay-at-home order is set to expire on May 15, a presentation used by D.C. Department of Health director LaQuandra Nesbitt cautioned that “opening non-essential businesses before May 25th will most likely create a second, larger peak of infections.”