This story was updated on March 9

Christ Church Georgetown officials on Sunday said that Rector Timothy Cole tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, the first confirmed case in D.C.

Hundreds of people who attended the church have been asked to self-quarantine for two weeks from the date of their visit, if they attended church on February 24 or between February 28 and March 3, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Monday. “It’s a recommendation from [D.C. Health] that we expect people to follow,” Bowser said.

Cole, the church’s top-ranking clergy, is in stable condition at a local hospital, where he has been since Thursday, according to the church. Christ Church said it has canceled all activities — including services — until further notice and has recommended that concerned community members contact their healthcare providers.

Bowser announced the city’s public health lab returned its first positive test result for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus, on Saturday. She did not name Cole at the time, but officials have since confirmed that the cases are the same.

Cole had attended a conference in Kentucky late last month, according to an account provided by church officials. Cole fell ill, but his health improved and he attended services and events before his symptoms worsened. Cole was initially diagnosed with the flu, then pneumonia, before being diagnosed with coronavirus on March 7. 

“I am receiving excellent care and am in good spirits under the circumstances. I will remain quarantined for the next 14 days as will the rest of my family,” Cole told parishioners in an email.  “We did not make the decision to close our doors lightly, but out of an abundance of caution for the most vulnerable among us.  . . . There is no need to panic.”

Any person who is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or develops them in the 14 days since visiting Christ Church should call their medical provider or DC Health at 202-576-1117.

Speaking at the Wilson Building on Saturday night, Bowser also said a second person, a man from Nigeria, traveled through D.C. before presenting symptoms in Maryland, where he remains hospitalized. Officials are trying to determine what risk the man may have posed to the city, and who he may have come into contact with. He will be classified as a D.C. case, according to D.C. Health.

“D.C. Health has been notified by the State of Maryland of an individual who stayed in D.C. before presenting himself to a Maryland hospital and then tested positive for COVID-19 by the State of Maryland. D.C. Health is conducting contact tracing of the patient and individuals of known contact. CDC will classify this as a D.C. case because he stayed in D.C. for one night when he arrived in this country,” said a statement from the agency.

Bowser announced Sunday night that School Without Walls would close on Monday, March 9 for a “deep cleaning” because one of the school’s employees had close contact with the patient. The staff member is asymptomatic and she has tested negative; the mayor said the school is closing “out of an abundance of caution.” Two other schools, Mundo Verde and DC International, also closed Monday in an abundance of caution for cleaning.

Dr. Anjali Talwalkar, a senior deputy director for DC Health’s Community Health Administration, characterized the situation at Christ Church as “medium risk,” which means the people are asked to self-isolate came into close contact – within 6 feet – of the patient while he was symptomatic, or came into close contact with secretions from that patient.

In guidance sent by the church to its congregants, people who visited during the specified dates should “isolate themselves at home for 14 days from the last time they visited the church. Isolating at home includes not going to work or school, and not attending any large or public gatherings, or using public transportation or ride-sharing. DC Health may also be reaching out to certain individuals who are more likely to have been exposed with further guidance.” The church said Monday afternoon that staff “have not heard of a single instance where a parishioner is not following this guidance.”

The mayor also said she is considering whether to declare a public health emergency, which would allow her to impose a mandatory quarantine. She said that legal review is underway and that she would likely make the decision later Monday.

The city has secured a lease for a facility for use as a quarantine site if that became necessary, said Bowser, who declined to disclose the location.

There were also cases of two people who attended a conference in D.C. and later tested positive for COVID-19 when they arrived home in New York. But D.C. officials say they showed no symptoms while in the city, and are thus not considered a risk.

The news of D.C.’s first case came only days after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced three positive cases in Montgomery County, and on the same day that an attendee of the Conservative Political Action Conference conference — which took place last week at National Harbor — tested positive. The Pentagon also announced on Saturday that a U.S Marine assigned to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, tested positive for COVID-19 after overseas travel and is “currently being treated at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital.”

And on Sunday, Fairfax County reported its second positive coronavirus case. The patient, who is in their 80s, was on a similar Nile River cruise as the three Montgomery County patients who were diagnosed last week.

As of Friday night, officials in at least 28 states have confirmed positive tests for the viral illness. Almost 400 cases have been reported, a majority of them on the West Coast. At least 19 people have died.

Maryland has tested 44 people, with three positive results, while Virginia has tested 39 people, with one positive test and seven results pending.

So far D.C.’s Department of Forensic Science has tested 18 people; 14 of those tests have come back negative and three are still pending. The health lab can test up to 50 people a day, said director Jenifer Smith. This week, D.C. expanded its criteria for who is eligible to be tested. Anyone showing symptoms who traveled to an impacted country, may have come into contact with someone who has contracted COVID-19, or resides in a nursing home or long-term facility.

But at least one D.C. woman who recently traveled to Thailand, with a layover in South Korea, said she was denied a test last week even though she was showing symptoms and her doctor believed a test to be necessary.

“After several hours the doctor came back in and told me that she was very sorry but the department of health was refusing to run the test. They said I wasn’t in South Korea long enough. She was furious,” wrote Maggie McDow on Facebook on Saturday. “The doctor told me she thought there was a high likelihood that I have it based on my travel history, symptoms, the colleague that is sick, and all other tests coming back negative. But, without the test she couldn’t tell me for sure, and her hands were tied.”

When asked about McDow, Talwalkar said on Saturday she had not been tested because she had only been inside the airport, which was not considered to be a high-risk area. But officials have since reconsidered and are testing Mcdow.

Talwakar said city officials would keep pressing D.C. residents to wash their hands, cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze, and stay home if they feel sick.

“The most effective strategies we have are the ones we have been pushing out since the beginning, and that is community hygiene practices,” she said.

This story originally appeared on WAMU. It has been updated to include information about the confirmed patient in D.C.