Since early May, there have been two drownings in the Potomac, says the city’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services agency.

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Emergency responders recovered a body from the Potomac River Thursday, near the Chain Bridge and Fletcher’s Cove, after being tipped off by civilian boaters. The discovery comes as local authorities are warning people about the dangers of swimming in that river, following at least two separate drownings.

Vito Maggiolo, a spokesperson for D.C.’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, says the Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the incident and will work to determine the drowned person’s identity. He says a man was reported to have drowned in the Potomac last Tuesday, but at this point it’s unclear whether the discovered body is that of the same person.

While the agency has recorded two drownings in the river over roughly the past month, this is the first recovery of a body from the Potomac during that period, Maggiolo adds. Rescue units were dispatched to the river around 8 p.m. Tuesday, after witnesses said a man failed to resurface while swimming near the Chain Bridge.

In the second case, which occurred in early May, a man who was fishing from a rock near the Potomac fell into the river and was pulled under the surface.

“The Potomac River around Chain Bridge is treacherous and deceiving,” the Fire and EMS Department tweeted Tuesday. “DO NOT swim anywhere in this area. If you are on the shoreline, stay a safe distance from the water. A fall into the river can quickly turn fatal.”

Maggiolo says two drownings in relatively close succession of one another could indicate that residents are flocking to natural bodies of water while the area’s public swimming pools remain closed during the current stage of the coronavirus crisis. This week, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service expressed concerns about the issue to NBC Washington, saying the agency had recorded a near-drowning in Clopper Lake, west of Gaithersburg.

It’s long been illegal to swim in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers under laws passed largely due to pollution in the waterways. Officials have considered relaxing those restrictions following massive cleanup projects in recent years, but Maggiolo says there are still safety risks. “The currents are much more treacherous than they appear, and you can very easily be swept under and swept away,” he notes.

In D.C., public pools will likely stay closed until phase three of the city’s reopening plan. Montgomery County, meanwhile, could reopen its pools for lap swimming as early as next week—with the county’s executive saying the county is poised to enter phase two of its reopening at that time. And in Northern Virginia, indoor and outdoor public swimming pools could reopen Friday, as the area enters the second phase of its reopening.

Filed Under: anacostia river, chain bridge, coronavirus, d.c. fire and emergency medical services, dc fems, potomac river, safety, swimming,