DC To Require Masks Indoors For Everyone Older Than 2

WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an order Thursday requiring that masks be required in public indoor settings beginning at 5 a.m. on Saturday.

The new requirement in D.C. will apply to vaccinated and unvaccinated people over the age of 2. "We will continue to do what is necessary to keep D.C. safe," Bowser said at a news conference Thursday.

D.C. officials said that since the beginning of July, the city has five-fold increase in the number of daily positive cases.

Dr. LaQuandra S. Nesbitt, director of the District of Columbia Department of Health, said the greatest increase in cases is occurring in young people and young adults.

“In particular, we are seeing a higher number of cases and a higher proportion of our cases occurring in 5- to 14-year-olds and the 20- to 34-year-old populations here in the District of Columbia,” Nesbitt said.

The District has seen an increase in the amount of community spread of COVID-19, with a weekly case rate of 58.15 per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 3.6 percent.

Across the Potomac River, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that all Virginians, including residents who have received the COVID-19 vaccination, should only consider wearing a mask in public indoor settings where there is an increased risk of transmission.

Northam emphasized that the mask-wearing guidance is only a recommendation, not a requirement.