Larry Hogan, Maryland governor: D.C. metro area will look ‘a lot more like New York’ by Easter

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday he doubts the state will be able to loosen its coronavirus restrictions in the next two weeks, saying the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia area at that point will be “looking a lot more like New York.”

“No, we don’t see any way that we’re going to be opening back up in a couple of weeks,” Mr. Hogan said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The Washington metropolitan area … has quadrupled [in the number of cases] in the past week, and we see that continuing to grow exponentially, and we think in two weeks around Easter, we’re going to be looking a lot more like New York.”

As of Sunday, the Maryland Department of Health reported 1,239 cases of COVID-19, the D.C. Department of Health recorded 342 cases and the Virginia Department of Health recorded 890.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also announced Sunday that the District has received a disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The declaration will provide assistance to the District’s Emergency Response Services and to residents and businesses that have been severely impacted by COVID-19,” stated the press release.

Miss Bowser has already requested emergency assistance through the declaration to address immediate threats to public health and safety, medical care and sheltering, logistics and supplies.

In the District, two inmates — a 37-year-old man and a 38-year-old man — at the D.C. Jail tested positive over the weekend, bringing the facility’s total cases to four, according to the Department of Corrections.

Officials had moved both men Thursday from the Correctional Treatment Facility to a quarantine unit after the confirmation of the jail’s first coronavirus case, the corrections agency said.

In a court filing, the District’s Public Defender Service has asked for the release of all inmates serving sentences for misdemeanors, the Washington City Paper reported.

A public defender requesting the release of a client wrote in a motion that the Department of Corrections (DOC) is not following coronavirus protocols issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the court document, the CDC recommends having a stock of medical supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygiene supplies, but DOC General Counsel Eric Glover was unable to provide a list of materials currently in stock.

The CDC also recommends social distancing in corrections facilities at meals, in common areas and at group activities, but the agency has not confirmed it has implemented such measures, and the jail’s population of about 1,700 inmates makes it unlikely it will be able to do so, according to the court document.

Before the D.C. Jail confirmed its first COVID-19 case, the U.S. attorney’s office in support of pre-trial detention for a defendant and wrote that the DOC has taken proper precautions to keep inmates and visitors safe.

The U.S. attorney wrote that jail officials have suspended all non-attorney visitors and implemented a screening process for those who do enter, and that the DOC conducts daily briefings about how to combat the virus and has ordered more supplies.

Meanwhile, Metro officials said Sunday that, beginning Monday, subway riders no longer will be able to board the front or rear subway cars in order to create a buffer between operators and the public.

“Despite the fact that rail ridership is down about 93 percent, Metro will continue to operate all 8-car trains — the longest possible length — to allow plenty of room for safe social distancing in the remaining six cars,” officials said in a press release.

Metro also will continue its reduced service for essential travel only through April 3.

Metrorail will be open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., with trains running every 15 minutes on the Red Line and every 20 minutes on all other lines.

Seventeen stations remain closed.: Federal Center SW, Federal Triangle, Mt. Vernon Square, Judiciary Square, Archives, Greensboro, Eisenhower Avenue, Virginia Square, Cleveland Park, Grosvenor-Strathmore, Cheverly, Clarendon, East Falls Church, College Park, McLean, Morgan Boulevard and Van Dorn Street

Metrobus will run on a modified Sunday schedule. Fare collection has been suspended as Metro is asking most bus riders to use only the rear door.