With D.C. registering 586 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the virus has spread throughout the city, according to a ward-level breakdown shared by the District government on Wednesday. The highest total is in Ward 6 at 101 cases, followed by Ward 4 at 85 cases, but officials say there are no specific hotspots.
“My message is not to read anything into the ward breakdown,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference Wednesday. She added that city health officials “draw no conclusion from the data as reported.”

D.C. recorded two COVID-19-related deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total to 11. One of those was a 71-year-old female who died at home. She had not been previously tested and her status was only learned at the time of death, according to D.C. Department of Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt.
In total, D.C. registered 91 new positive cases, bringing the total number in the city to 586.
The city has also released data by age and gender; the highest number of positive cases is among people who are 31-40 and 19-30.

A number of first responders and other city personnel are included in the totals. As of Wednesday morning, 12 officers with the Metropolitan Police Department have tested positive for the virus, and 154 officers are in quarantine after possible exposure, said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue. Twenty-one firefighters have also tested positive, and 177 more are quarantined, per Donahue.
So far, only one staff member at the Department of Corrections has tested positive for the virus, but 113 more are currently in quarantine after possible exposure, according to Donahue.
The city has also been tracking the number of inmates at the D.C. Jail who test positive for COVID-19: There are six confirmed cases inside the jail, and 88 other residents are isolated or quarantined after possible exposure. Inmates have filed a broad lawsuit against D.C. DOC alleging unsafe conditions amid the crisis, and the corrections officers union has spoken out in support.
Donahue on Wednesday said that approximately 20 people serving time for misdemeanor crimes have been released from the D.C. Jail over the last month in an attempt to reduce the jail population and control the spread of disease. This week, about 25 more will be released, he said.
There is also one positive case of COVID-19 at the St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital in Southeast, officials said on Wednesday. Five homeless shelter residents have tested positive, as well.
First responders and medical professionals are currently highest priority for COVID-19 testing, Bowser said. It’s not clear how many medical professionals across the city have so far tested positive for the disease. The mayor said on Wednesday that no medical personnel in the city had died from the disease, but the District of Columbia Nurses Association announced that a nurse at Howard University Hospital had succumbed to the disease. Bowser said that the city can’t confirm deaths of people who live outside the city.
On Monday, Mayor Bowser and the governors of Maryland and Virginia all issued stay-at-home orders, instituting possible penalties for people who leave their homes for nonessential business and travel in large groups.
The city—and the country—still have not reached the peak of the epidemic, and city officials expect to see the number of cases rise, especially as testing increases. The city’s state of emergency may be extended, Bowser said, depending on whether social distancing measures are successful in controlling the rate of new infections.
D.C. has been in contact with FEMA to ask for more ventilators in anticipation of rising numbers of sick COVID patients, Bowser said on Wednesday. The city has also drawn down on its contingency fund to order more ventilators on its own.
“It is time for us to stay home as much as possible. We are staying home for our first responders,” Bowser said, “for everyone who is working in our grocery stores and providing an essential service.”
Natalie Delgadillo
Rachel Sadon