American University and Georgetown University have both announced that their upcoming semesters will start virtually, joining George Washington University in the delayed start to in-person learning.
In a letter sent to the American University community, school officials communicated that classes will temporarily move online from January 10 to January 30 with in-person instruction resuming on Monday, January 31 due to increasing Covid cases in the D.C. region and across the country.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced today that all DCPS students and staff will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school on January 5.
Tests will be available to pick up at all DC public schools beginning on Monday, January 3.
African Art, Postal, Anacostia and Asian Art Museums to Close
Per the Smithsonian:
A Frederick County Press Release from earlier today, announcing a meeting of Frederick County Board of Health, on Thursday, December 30 can be seen below.
FREDERICK, MD — The Frederick County Board of Health will meet in an emergency meeting on Thursday, December 30 at 7pm. This meeting is called to discuss current level of risk, an indoor mask requirement, and a limit on public events over 25 people.
George Washington University sent a letter to the GW community informing them that the Spring 2022 semester would start virtually. Per the letter, the adjustment is expected to be temporary as the school projects a return to full in-person operations on January 18th (following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday).
The full letter can be seen below:
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Wednesday that indoor businesses like restaurants and gyms will be required to verify patrons 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. Some locations, such as grocery stores and churches, are exempt.
In a letter to customers, Phillips Seafood announced the permanent closure of Phillips Crab House in Ocean City.
The seafood company announced that it decided to sell the property that was home to Phillips Crab House at 2004 Philadelphia Avenue between 20th and 21st Street in Ocean City.
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced at a press conference today that she will declaring a State of Emergency in the District as COVID-19 cases continue to increase.
Beginning Tuesday, December 21st at 6 AM, the indoor mask mandate will be reinstated in DC until 6 AM on January 31, 2022. DC had dropped its indoor mask mandate back in November.
Washington, DC recorded its highest number of single day COVID-19 cases during the entirety of the pandemic on Wednesday of this week when 508 people are reported to have tested positive, according to FOX5.
Last week DC only recorded 126 new cases.
The University of Maryland has announced that it will be taking due to a sharp increase in the number of positive Covid-19 cases on campus (110 total since Monday).
These actions include the cancellation of all winter commencement activities/ceremonies, the cancellation of any indoor activities where masking cannot be strictly enforced, all campus dining halls transitioning to “grab and go”, RecWell activities closed until January 3, the requirement for students who live on campus to go home after their final on-campus exam, and the requirement for all students/faculty to wear KN95 masks for all in-person finals.
The Howard County Public School System announced in a letter to the community this morning that an alarming increase in Covid-19 cases (300 positive tests in the last 3 days) has led the school system to suspend the following activities through January 15th, 2022.
HCPSS will re-evaluate on January 7th, 2022 to determine if an extension is necessary.