D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday she will reinstate an indoor mask mandate, declaring a state of emergency in the city as coronavirus cases surge.
Bowser, who announced the order during a press conference on Monday morning, said the mandate will go into effect at 6 a.m. Tuesday and run through Jan. 31.
The mayor said her state of emergency will give has administration the tools to “make sure that we can do all the things that we need to do administratively, including buy goods and services, and make sure that we’re handling D.C. government operations in an urgent way.”
Additionally, D.C. Public Schools’ winter break has been extended until Jan. 5 so that students, teachers and staffers have adequate time to obtain testing kits before a return to in-person learning.
D.C. officials said 100,000 tests are available and can be picked up on Jan. 3 and 4.
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