D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Says City’s Coronavirus Peak Could Come Earlier

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks about the District's coronavirus response
Patrick Semansky/AP Photo
Hannah Knudsen

Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said this week that the peak of the coronavirus in the nation’s capital could come earlier than expected.

While Bowser told Fox News Sunday that the capital would not likely see a medical surge until June, she relaxed that prediction during an interview on WTOP this week.

“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,” she told the station, adding they they are updating the model every day based on what they see on the ground and moving the date of the peak to, possibly, mid-May.

“We’re hopeful that our worst-case scenario projections won’t be realized, which means we will see lower levels of infection or hospitalizations and possibly see our peak happen in mid to late May rather than late June,” she said.

However, she ultimately said it is too hard to predict when the city will be able to resume normal operations, warning of a “rebound in infection.”

“Nobody wants to get back open more than I do, to get our kids back in learning environments. But we don’t want to see a rebound in infection, which would lose all of the gains we’ve made over the last month,” Bowser said.

The mayor announced on Wednesday the extension of the city’s stay-at-home order, which now extends through at least May 15:

The city now has over 2,190 confirmed cases of the virus, with 72 related deaths.

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