DC Coronavirus Emergency To Be Extended Into Mid-June

WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson confirmed Monday the City Council would be considering a measure to extend by an additional 45 days the state of emergency declared by Mayor Muriel Bowser on March 17 due to the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. The Council will vote on the measure during its legislative meeting on Tuesday.

"What the bill will do is to extend the mayor's authority in regards to declaring the emergency for a full 90 days. That is until the middle of June," Mendelson said. "The law, I believe, says the mayor has 15 days and then has to come to the council and on March 17 we expanded that to 45 days. Now we're doubling it to 90 days."

The bill will also authorize up to $500 million in short-term borrowing, which was requested by Jeffrey DeWitt, the District's chief financial officer.

"The District is in a good financial position, so we are not worrying about whether we have revenue, although we are seeing a substantial reduction in our revenue this year," Mendelson said. "But we are concerned that because we are dipping into our contingency fund substantially and just because the way cash flow works, there could be a dip greater than we have experienced in the last two years in August."

The short-term borrowing would help the city to weather any cash flow dips.

"Much of it would be repaid before the end of the fiscal year, and the rest would be about one-year line of credit with banks," he said. "That is an important feature of this legislation."

The bill would also authorize the mayor to provide up to $25 million in grants to hospitals as they prepare fo the surge of patients with COVID-19.

Projections released by Bowser on Friday predict the surge in COVID-19 patients at city hospitals would peak at the end of June and beginning of July.

"We do expect that this money would be reimbursable from the federal relief legislation that's been adopted, but to ensure that those dollars are available now to help hospitals, that's in this bill," Mendelson said.

The legislation also contains consumer protections concerning funeral homes, civil rights and debt collection. Regarding debt collection in particular, the bill limits seizures and how collections are made.

In addition, the bill implements a city-wide freeze on rent to include both rent-controlled and non-rent-controlled units. Landlords will not be able to implement rent increases during the emergency.

For the individuals or businesses who are paying a mortgage, if they have reduced income because of the emergency or illness, mortgage companies are required to offer a 90 day deferral.

"For commercial tenants, if there's a mortgage deferral, it has to be passed through to the commercial tenants," he said.

During the Monday morning press briefing, Bowser acknowledged that the District would need to make $607 million in cuts from the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

"Today, I signed a Mayor's Order that freezes hiring, salary increases, at D.C. Government," she said. "Exceptions will be limited to the coronavirus response and public safety, human services, and staffing for our schools. Just as residents and businesses are making tough choices, the District will make tough choices too."

Bowser also confirmed 99 new positive coronavirus cases as of Monday, bringing the District’s overall positive case total to 1,097. In addition, two more COVID-19-related deaths were confirmed, a 67-year-old female and a 69-year-old female. This brings the total number of deaths in the District caused by COVID-19 to 24.

On Sunday, D.C. Department of Health confirmed 96 new positive coronavirus cases, as well as one additional death due to the virus. The patient was identified as a 76-year-0ld female.

D.C. Health released the the total number of positive COVID-19 cases sorted by age, gender and ward.

Aggregated Total of Positive COVID-19 Cases By Age And Gender:

Aggregated Total Of Positive COVID-19 Cases By Ward:

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This article originally appeared on the Washington DC Patch