WASHINGTON (AP) — Mayor Muriel Bowser says the nation’s capital will begin a gradual reopening Friday, even as she warns that it probably will result in will be permitted to seat guests outdoors, barbers and hair salons will open and nonessential businesses will be allowed to offer curbside or front-door pickup services.
Bowser said Wednesday that the public health emergency she declared in March will remain in place.
“The virus is still in our city, in our region and in our country,” Bowser said.
Bowser and the Health Department chief, Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, said the metrics tracking community spread of the virus have been trending positive for long enough to justify the transition.
Washington, D.C., working closely with neighboring counties in Maryland and Virginia, has pursued a more conservative timeline than much of the rest of the nation.
