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Elizabeth Frantz

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Coronavirus</a> cases are ticking up across the region after a relative decline as the latest highly transmissible coronavirus variant sweeps the country and unmasked people resume gathering, emboldened by relaxed restrictions.

Public health experts and elected officials are hoping a seasonal change to outdoor events, built-up immunity and widespread vaccine and testing access will blunt the spread of omicron’s BA.2 subvariant, which so far has not driven spikes in severe sickness seen in previous surges.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said Thursday that she is part of a modest increase in new cases and is experiencing mild symptoms. Experts say widespread testing access has helped tamp down the spread and, in combination with vaccinations and booster shots, enabled many people to live with the virus while regaining some sense of normalcy.

“We’re seeing a small increase in the number of weekly cases,” D.C. Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt told reporters in a virtual briefing Thursday. “But again those cases do not suggest we are experiencing more severe illness for the broader population that’s being diagnosed right now or that we’re having more hospitalizations.”

Public health departments are beginning to monitor wastewater for signs of the coronavirus as an early warning system for future surges and looking for ways to address chronic illnesses that are risk factors for severe infections, including diabetes, heart disease and obesity, as well as asthma.

In D.C., infections are up 57 percent in the past week, compared with the previous week, with 144 new<b> </b>cases, but deaths are down to zero, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/dc-maryland-virginia-coronavirus-cases/" target=_blank>The Washington Post tracker</a>. In comparison, the seven-day average of new cases was more than 2,000 in early January, when there was a surge of cases tied to the omicron variant.

Maryland experienced a bump of nearly 400 new infections or an increase of 26 percent in the past seven days compared with the previous week, with only three deaths, a decrease of 40 percent, The Post reports.

Virginia reported a 17 percent increase in cases, which amounts to 808 new cases, and 19 new deaths, a 27 percent increase, data shows.

Bowser joins a list of high-profile leaders to announce positives in recent days, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and several other members of Congress, some of whom may have been directly or indirectly exposed via the Gridiron Club dinner, a gathering of hundreds of people, many without masks.

After Gridiron Dinner, a covid outbreak among Washington A-list guests

Public health experts underscored the importance of mask-wearing and other mitigation measures for staying safe and preventing transmission, which is likely to increase as people resume traveling and gathering amid a relative drop in cases.

Federal, state and local officials faced increased pressure as omicron cases began declining to make choices restoring the country to relative normalcy, lifting mandates and revisiting guidance that for years had thrust them into a thorny debate over personal freedom.

The D.C. area saw traffic disruptions for weeks last month with a convoy of truckers and others protesting vaccine mandates and airing right-wing grievances. Many criticized stringent mitigations measures previously in place across the District as they sought to draw attention to their demands.

The uncomfortable leader of an angry crowd: Brian Brase and the ‘People’s Convoy’

District officials have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/03/02/dc-masks-covid-business-choice/" target=_blank>no plans to reinstate</a> the indoor mask policy, which was lifted about five weeks ago, or a lapsed requirement that patrons show proof of vaccination to enter establishments. Yet Nesbitt emphasized that businesses and institutions can ask that patrons wear masks indoors, and many have continued to do so in the weeks since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/25/cdc-mask-guidance-faq/" target=_blank>instituted a new system</a> for determining when masks are appropriate.

According to the CDC, community spread remains low in the District, all of Maryland and most of Virginia, except for the far southwestern part of the state and a handful of rural and suburban counties where community spread is considered medium.

According to the CDC, 73 percent of Virginia residents are fully vaccinated, meaning they have received both doses in the two doses of an mRNA vaccine or the one-dose Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine. In D.C., 73 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. Maryland leads the pack regionally with 75 percent of residents fully vaccinated.

Brooke Rossheim, a public health physician specialist in the Office of Epidemiology at the Virginia Department of Health, said while the two-dose series offers good immunity, a booster, which is recommended by state and federal public health experts, offers better protection, while people 50 and older<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/03/29/fourth-covid-booster-shot/" target=_blank> may consider a second booster.</a>

Bowser, 49, is fully vaccinated and boosted. In several <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorBowser/status/1512056379657408517" target=_blank>tweets</a>, she shared that she tested positive using a home test Wednesday, which she confirmed through a PCR test.

“Prayerfully, my household will remain negative,” Bowser tweeted. “I continue to experience mild cold-like/allergy symptoms. I’m grateful that I can work at home while following isolation protocols.”

Nesbitt said the city reported a 37 percent increase in testing over the past week, which coincides with seasonal allergies, which share some of the symptoms associated with covid-19.

Additionally, the BA.2 variant makes up an increasing number of new infections. About 61 percent of virus circulating in the District is the subvariant of omicron. CDC modeling show BA.2 makes up about 72 percent of new infections in the United States and about 68 percent of the region that includes D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Preliminary studies show the subvariant is likely more transmissible than the base omicron strain, but does not cause more severe illness.

The lull gives local health departments like the one in Alexandria an opportunity to reflect on the past two years and focus on addressing inequities that meant the coronavirus has had a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino communities.

Natalie Talis, population health manager at the Alexandria Health Department, said community health workers who focused on nothing but the coronavirus for two years have been redeployed to treat people holistically.

They aim to help treat diabetes, heart disease, obesity and even poor indoor air quality — all risk factors for severe covid-19 — as well as the emotional and social barriers in accessing health care, Talis said.

“People are kind of over covid, but none of those other health concerns went away,” she said. “It’s really great to get back to some of that core public health work like assessing health inequities.”

University of Maryland, College Park, BA in journalism

Michael Brice-Saddler covers D.C. government and politics for The Washington Post's Metro desk. He joined The Post in June 2018 as a crime reporting intern after graduating from the University of Maryland. Before moving to local politics, he covered national and breaking news on the general assignment desk. 

Michael Brice-Saddler

University of Delaware, BA in English 

Jenna Portnoy is the local health reporter for The Washington Post. She previously covered members of Congress from the greater Washington region and worked in the Richmond bureau. Before joining The Post, she worked for the Newark Star-Ledger in her home state, as well as the Allentown Morning Call and Philadelphia City Paper. 

Jenna Portnoy

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