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<a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/24/d-c-was-set-for-14th-day-of-declining-cases-but-new-data-reset-clock-by-3-days/">https://dcist.com/story/20/05/24/d-c-was-set-for-14th-day-of-declining-cases-but-new-data-reset-clock-by-3-days/</a><br>
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<span style="font-size:9pt">Dr. LaQuandra S. Nesbitt, Director, DC Department of Health, left, speaks as District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, center, and Christopher Rodriguez, Director, DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Services, right, listen
during a news conference about the District’s monitoring, preparation, and response to the coronavirus Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Washington. </span><span style="font-size:8pt">Associated Press / Luis M. Alvarez</span></div>
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New data revealed by D.C. Health Department officials show that the two-week benchmark for case decline has not been met. Officials reported a “new peak” in coronavirus community spread on Sunday, but it was<span> </span><span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; font-size:1.25rem">not
immediately clear how this will impact the</span><span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; font-size:1.25rem"> </span><a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/21/dc-reopen-stage-1-recs-muriel-bowser/" style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); color:rgb(14,97,161); border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204); font-size:1.25rem">city’s
tentatively planned reopening on May 29</a><span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; font-size:1.25rem">.</span></p>
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<span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; font-size:1.25rem">District officials</span><span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; font-size:1.25rem"> </span><a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/18/d-c-is-halfway-to-meeting-a-key-reopening-metric-but-you-wouldnt-know-it-from-the-public-data/" style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); color:rgb(14,97,161); border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204); font-size:1.25rem">calculate
community spread</a><span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; font-size:1.25rem"> </span><span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; font-size:1.25rem">by
the date of symptom onset while taking out cases at facilities such as nursing homes. </span>The city was headed for the 14th straight day of decline in that metric, a goal set by the administration as<span> </span><a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/18/d-c-is-halfway-to-meeting-a-key-reopening-metric-but-you-wouldnt-know-it-from-the-public-data/" style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0); color:rgb(14,97,161); border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204)">a
key metric for entering Phase 1 of reopening</a>, today.</p>
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The District says the new data point will now move the calendar back by three days. “It is confirmed that a new peak was detected in the data, resetting the count to 11 days of sustained decline,” the mayor’s office said in a release.</p>
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<a href="https://dcist.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/a.png" style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0); color:rgb(14,97,161); border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204)"><img alt="" width="941" height="608" style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; display:block; max-width:100%; height:auto; max-height:640px; width:auto; margin:0px auto" src="https://dcist.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/a.png"></a>
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<span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"">The graph provided by the D.C. Health Department.</span><span style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; display:block; margin-top:5px; font-size:0.625rem; line-height:1rem">D.C.
Health</span></p>
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It seemed something was amiss after D.C.’s coronavirus data wasn’t posted, as usual, around 10 a.m. The city didn’t release the figures until about 4:45 p.m. and it wasn’t immediately clear what they would mean.</p>
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D.C.’s Director of Health<a href="https://dchealth.dc.gov/biography/laquandra-s-nesbitt-md-mph" target="_blank" style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0); color:rgb(14,97,161); border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204)"><span> </span>Dr.
LaQuandra Nesbitt</a><span> </span>held a follow-up call with reporters in which she was asked two main questions: why did this peak not reset D.C. to day zero, as officials said it previously would? And does this change Mayor Muriel Bowser’s statement last
week that the city could be set to enter Phase 1 on Friday, May 29?</p>
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On the first, Nesbitt said that on day 11, the number of cases surpassed two standard deviations of the previous peak, which is calculated using a five-day rolling average: 40. Today, the number of cases based on symptom onset rose by 50.</p>
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According to Nesbitt, that’s why the city rolled back to day 11 as opposed to day zero.</p>
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<span style="color: rgb(27, 35, 51); font-family: ff-dagny-web-pro, serif; font-size: 20px;">If you find this confusing,</span><span style="color: rgb(27, 35, 51); font-family: ff-dagny-web-pro, serif; font-size: 20px;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/1264676190457077766/photo/1" target="_blank" style="font-family: ff-dagny-web-pro, serif; font-size: 20px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; font-feature-settings: "lnum"; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: rgb(14, 97, 161); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">you
are not the only one</a><span style="color: rgb(27, 35, 51); font-family: ff-dagny-web-pro, serif; font-size: 20px;">. Repeated questions to clarify and explain was met by some impatience from Nesbitt, even though she admitted it’s rather difficult to fully
grasp.</span><br>
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“When you’re communicating to people, ‘Well, we’re making this decision based on a change in standard deviation. We don’t have to go back to zero. We’re just going back to day eleven.’ It can become just a tad bit frustrating for folks,” she said.</p>
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On the second question—if this new peak changes plans for beginning to reopen—Nesbitt noted that this was just one of the metrics (along with hospital capacity and positive test rate) that the city is tracking.</p>
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However, she didn’t provide clarity on the date, repeatedly deferring to the Bowser’s planned Tuesday press conference.</p>
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Overall, 144 new cases were added to the District’s total, which<span> </span><a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/18/coronavirus-latest-dc-maryland-virginia-week-of-may-18/" style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0); color:rgb(14,97,161); border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204)">was
nearly double the 73 reported yesterday</a>, bringing the overall number to 8,110. In addition, five new deaths were reported.</p>
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It was the second day in a row that the city’s data raised questions. On Saturday, the mayor’s office reported a one-day total of nearly 9,000 tests—more than five times higher than any other single day.</p>
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That contributed to a significant drop in D.C.’s test positivity rate, which White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx had pointed out was among the country’s highest on Friday. A mayoral spokesperson explained that it was a<span> </span><a href="https://dcist.com/story/20/05/23/dr-birx-the-d-c-area-has-the-highest-rate-of-positive-tests-in-the-country/" style="box-sizing:border-box; font-variant-numeric:lining-nums; font-feature-settings:"lnum"; background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0); color:rgb(14,97,161); border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204)">one-time
addition to account for multiple tests</a><span> </span>from commercial labs that had been conducted on the same individuals.</p>
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<div>__________________________________________________________________________________________________</div>
<div>Steve Holtzman, 6B05</div>
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<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">For the latest information on the District Government’s response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), please visit
<a href="https://coronavirus.dc.gov/">coronavirus.dc.gov</a>.</p>
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