As D.C. experiences a record number of new COVID-19 infections, Mayor Muriel Bowser, alongside her cabinet, announced she will be reinstating a mask mandate, as well as expanding access to rapid tests at public libraries and for D.C. Public Schools. D.C. government employees will also be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and no longer have the option to test out of the mandate, according to a presentation she delivered on Monday.

The reinstatement of the mask mandate, indoors at public spaces, will begin at 6 a.m. Tuesday. It will be in effect until at least January 31.

The mayor’s plan against the latest COVID-19 surge emphasizes masking, testing, and vaccination, which public health experts say are effective strategies to slow the spread of the virus.

Eight D.C. Public Libraries will receive rapid test kits to distribute across all wards, as part of DC Health’s “test yourself” program. The rapid tests are limited to two kits per person, per day, and are available to D.C. residents only. The kits have two tests each. The mayor’s office is asking for volunteers to help assemble kits. The District has ordered more than a million rapid test kits, has 42,000 on hand that will be distributed in the coming weeks, and more than 200,000 are on the way. Only 1,000 kits a day will be available at each library to start, but that number is expected to increase when more tests arrive. Residents will need to show a D.C. ID card or bring a piece of mail with their name and address on it to obtain a test kit. They also are required to report results to coronavirus.dc.gov/overthecounter so the District can keep track of cases.

The Bowser administration also announced a delay in the return of D.C. Public Schools from winter break to Jan. 5 to allow time for post-holiday testing, which will also be made available to staff and students. Testing is not required to return to school, but highly recommended, Chancellor Lewis Ferebee said. More than 100,000 tests will be distributed to schools. Each school will get enough to test every student, teacher, and staff member.

As for the D.C. employee vaccine mandate, the administration says there is no firm deadline set yet, as negotiations with labor unions continue.

DC Health reported consecutive days of record-breaking new infections last week. On Thursday, the agency counted 508 new cases — the most D.C. ever documented during the pandemic. D.C. broke its record the next day, reporting 844 new cases on Friday. These estimates do not always account for at-home tests, but DC Health is asking residents to self-report. 

Cases are up nationally, as are hospitalizations and deaths, according to the Washington Post tracker. In D.C., hospitalizations have fluctuated in recent weeks but have never neared overwhelming the health care system, according to DC Health, as COVID-19 patients average around 5 percent of total hospitalizations. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 67 percent of the total population in D.C. is vaccinated as of Dec. 19, and 24 percent — including 45 percent of those 65 and older — are boosted. Public health experts are emphasizing boosters, given the emergence of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant. 

The news of a surge has D.C. residents on edge. Case counts prompted many to call on Mayor Bowser to reinstate the mask mandate, which she lifted in mid-November, though masking remained in place for select places like schools, childcare facilities, and public transportation. While some people and establishments celebrated the easing of the mandate and decrease in cases, others questioned the timing, given that public health experts had anticipated a holiday surge. 

But Bowser said she did not regret dropping the mandate.

“I don’t regret evolving with the virus, which is exactly what we’ve done throughout the virus,” Bowser said. “So as conditions warranted, we’ve changed our interventions, and we are changing them again.”

Then omicron entered the public consciousness. DC Health confirmed its first cases linked to the newest variant of concern on Dec. 12, but health officials say it makes up less than 1% of D.C.’s current caseload. Sequencing the variant does take about ten days, which could lead to delayed reporting. Federal health officials expect omicron to lead to unprecedented case counts nationwide in the next couple weeks. “The big question is, are those million cases going to be sick enough to need health care and especially hospitalization?” National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told CBS News on Sunday.  

The surge has taken a toll on businesses, which currently aren’t subjected to any government-mandated mask or vaccine requirement. Even those infections that don’t result in serious illness can be stressful because of the mental and logistical hardships of testing positive and quarantining. Some businesses have to temporarily shut down because staffing levels make it impossible to operate with one or two people out.  

“If I were to get COVID-19, I would like to have reassurances that I’ll be OK with being out of work,” says Princess Johnson, a bartender at Allegory. She’s vaccinated but worries about getting sick or temporarily closing because tending the bar is how she pays the bills.

Many bars and restaurants have proactively closed in-door dining ahead of the holidays. Pow Pow — a fast-casual restaurant offering Asian-accented cuisine along H Street NE — was among those that decided to open for to-go only in the hopes of keeping the community safe. Chef Margaux Riccio says the restaurant has taken “extreme precautions” all pandemic, which she thinks helped prevent anyone on staff from getting sick. It’s been expensive to do so. Riccio took a pay cut to increase staff salary because they saw tips drop when Pow Pow pivoted to delivery and pick-up only.  

“The District is letting the essential workers down, be it grocery or restaurant workers,” Riccio told DCist/WAMU ahead of the mayor’s press conference. “They should be allotted X amount of free tests and they should be given the money to pay for different things and there should be a [mask] mandate in place. They shouldn’t be the responsible party policing people.” 

Ivy and Coney in the Shaw neighborhood, meanwhile, is among the businesses temporarily closed so workers could get tested. Like Pow Pow, the bar has been careful and has a vaccine requirement to enter. After seeing restaurant after restaurant announce exposures or positive cases among staff last week, alongside record-breaking new infections, co-owner Chris Powers says the bar decided everyone working should get a rapid test — which isn’t cheap. Ivy and Coney has spent several hundred on such testing. When one employee’s results turned up inconclusive, the owners decided everyone should get a PCR test, the gold standard for detecting COVID. 

“Before vaccines, it felt like every day you’re dodging bullets,” Powers tells DCist/WAMU. “Even now, it’s like with everybody vaccinated — most of our staff boosted — maybe we’re dodging BBs.” 

“The primary driver is obviously you don’t want to have staff sick. You don’t wanna be spreading any type of illness,” he continues, “We want our staff to be healthy and to be able to enjoy the holiday, especially given that many weren’t able to last year. “

There’s a chance they open on Christmas because some staff stay in town and look forward to being at the bar with regulars. So the cost of closing isn’t negligible just from a financial standpoint but an emotional one too. 

“It’s kind of a D.C. tradition,” says Powers. “If we could be open for Chinese food and a movie day on Christmas, that would be incredible — if staff want to do it and everybody’s healthy.” 

Bowser says she has considered but has so far not gone ahead with a vaccine mandate to dine indoors or go to entertainment venues like some cities including New York and Boston.

“We continue to invest in learning how that’s going to affect us right now in this search,” Bowser said of the idea.

This story was updated with more details from the press conference, including locations and hours of libraries that have rapid test kits available.