The Washington Post - 06.04.2020

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monday, april 6 , 2020. washingtonpost.com/regional eZ M2 b

education

our current Unschooling

Movement can’t replace

in-classroom bonding,

Jay Mathews writes. b2

John Kelly’s Washington

how does time smell?

like the oiled brass and

varnished wood of a

faithful old clock. b3

obituaries

David c. Driskell, 88, was

a primary sponsor and

advocate of african

55 ° 62 ° 69 ° 62 ° american art. b5

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 4 p.m.

69

°

Precip: 5%

Wind: NNW

6-12 mph

On feast of triumphant arrival, the faithful stay home

Matt Mcclain/the Washington Post

empty pews and reflected stained-glass windows are seen during a Palm Sunday service at the cathedral of St. thomas more in arlington. the

catholic diocese of arlington was streaming the service live because most of the parishioners were unable to attend amid the coronavirus pandemic.

the virus has changed day-to-day life and spread fear as the number of deaths has climbed past 9,500 in the united States.

confronted the president about a

lack of testing but been generally

genial, people familiar with the

exchanges say. After Trump said

testing was no longer an issue,

Hogan responded flatly in a radio

interview: “That’s just not true.”

“There is continuing friction,

because they say we have things

available, but things are not avail-

able,” Hogan told The Washing-

ton Post. “They say, ‘Get on the

phone; governors can get all these

see maryland on B5

harm of a mass shutdown is worth

the cost, and his position as one of

the few Republicans willing to

question statements by President

Trump and declare that the Unit-

ed states was “caught flat-footed.”

Hogan’s latest warning, based

on the projections of epidemiolo-

gists advising him, is that the

capital region will be the nation’s

next hot spot, potentially crip-

pling the federal government’s

ability to respond.

on conference calls, he has

for the nation’s governors, offer-

ing a message equal parts sober-

ing and hopeful: This pandemic,

he says, is worse and will last

longer than anyone imagines, and

America will get through it to-

gether.

The media blitz is driven partly

by Hogan’s role as chair of the

national Governors Association.

But it’s also fueled by his unvar-

nished predictions of an impend-

ing catastrophe, his resolute ex-

planations of why the economic

cause I’m seeing you everywhere.”

As the virus’s infection rate has

surged, so has Hogan’s presence

on national news and talk shows

he once shunned. The Republican

has emerged as chief spokesman

BY ERIN COX,

JOSH DAWSEY

AND OVETTA WIGGINS

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan

(R) phoned his favorite country

radio station the other day and

made a confession. He c an’t l isten

anymore. The coronavirus pan-

demic consumes his every waking

moment.

The host seemed unsurprised.

“Do you ever get tired of being

interviewed?” she asked. “Be-

Hogan emerges as GOP’s top voice urging action on pandemic

Md. leader is unafraid to

question, and correct,

President Trump

ciation, which represents a small

percentage of the school’s teach-

ers, circulated a petition last

month calling for LeBlanc’s oust-

er, accusing him of racism and

criticizing his leadership style and

plans for the s chool.

Also last month, the editorial

board of the student newspaper,

the GW Hatchet, demanded that

LeBlanc step down, writing that

“LeBlanc’s plan for the future of

the University and his past mis-

takes are out of touch with stu-

dents and faculty.”

on Wednesday, the Faculty As-

sociation sent a letter to the uni-

versity community doubling

down on those complaints. “The

crisis presented by the global

see gwu on B2

BY JOE HEIM

More than 120 George Wash-

ington University faculty mem-

bers renewed their call this week

for the resignation of university

President Thomas J. LeBlanc, say-

ing the coronavirus crisis only

heightens their concerns about

LeBlanc’s v ision for the school and

past comments that critics have

called r acist.

The independent Faculty Asso-

GWU faculty press case

for president to resign

Letter: Coronavirus

shouldn’t detract from

leadership concerns

BY JUSTIN JOUVENAL,

PETER HERMANN

AND DAN MORSE

When the leaders of D.C.,

Maryland and Virginia an-

nounced unprecedented stay-at-

home orders this week to control

the s pread of the coronavirus, the

moves sparked questions about

how far police might go to en-

force them.

But as one of the nation’s

largest metropolitan regions has

snapped shut, the campaign to

keep people from going out for all

but the most essential trips to

jobs, grocery stores, doctors and

pharmacies has so far relied

more on education than enforce-

ment.

Police across all three jurisdic-

tions have the power to charge

residents with misdemeanors if

they violate the stay-at-home or-

ders — a conviction can carry jail

time and fines in the thousands.

But a Washington Post survey of

local d epartments h as found only

one such arrest in the region in

the first days the orders were in

effect.

Local police departments have

also made clear they won’t em-

ploy more heavy-handed tactics

some residents feared, such as

checkpoints, random stops of

drivers to ensure their trips are

essential and asking people to

see enforcement on B4

Area police focus on education over enforcement

John McDonnell/the Washington Post

u.S. Park Police block the arlington memorial Bridge to prevent

access to the tidal Basin, which usually has a lot of foot traffic.

Few arrests made so far

in violations of region’s

stay-at-home orders

Alicia Bautista, a

hotel

housekeeper, is

worried being laid

off means she’ll

lose the silver

spring townhouse

she bought in February after

saving for nine years.

R ickea Luster, a cook, has

canceled v acations and

postponed plans to move f rom

her basement apartment to a

nicer place.

Patricia namyalo, a waitress, is

cutting spending by eating “a lot

of noodles, beans and rice.”

The economic damage

wreaked by the novel coronavirus

has hit the region’s m iddle- and

low-income residents hardest,

and for now it has crushed the

hopes of many to improve their

lot.

The sudden shutdown of large

sectors of the local economy will

widen the gap between affluent

households and those living

paycheck to paycheck, according

to urban experts, economists and

other analysts.

The Washington region will

probably fare b etter than other

metro areas p ost-pandemic, they

say, b ecause the federal

government has an outsize role in

the economy, a nd the growing

tech sector could bounce back

relatively quickly when the

health crisis ends.

But the “covid effect” will

aggravate a social and economic

divide that has persisted since

the 2008 recession, despite

commitments by leaders such as

D.C. Mayor Muriel e. Bowser ( D)

to narrow it.

“I think D.C. as a metropolitan

area will do very well, b ut at t he

same time its own socioeconomic

and geographic divisions will

harden,” s aid Richard Florida, a

University of To ronto researcher

and author of books on urban

areas. “Washington, D.C., will be

a more class-divided place.”

said Doni Crawford, an analyst

at t he DC Fiscal Policy Institute:

“It’s just going to exacerbate the

inequities that we already see. I

don’t t hink there’s r eally a way

around that. We j ust have to be

intentional about mitigating it as

much as we can.”

see regional memo on B3

Economic

shutdown

will widen

class divide

regional

Memo

robert

MCCartney

BY IAN SHAPIRA,

RACHEL CHASON,

FENIT NIRAPPIL

AND HANNAH NATANSON

The Washington region’s battle

with the novel coronavirus inten-

sified sunday, as the number of

confirmed cases soared to more

than 7,000 and Maryland Gov.

Larry Hogan (R) issued an emer-

gency order requiring nursing

home staff to wear protective gear

and segregate infected patients to

halt the spread of the disease

following outbreaks in the state’s

long-term care facilities.

Meanwhile, the administration

of D.C. Mayor Muriel e. Bowser

(D) ordered the Wharf Fish Mar-

ket in southwest Washington

shut down sunday after custom-

ers crowded its open-air market-

place saturday, d efying social-dis-

tancing orders. The closure will

last through at least April 24,

according to a spokeswoman for

Bowser, and may be extended.

one month to the day of the

first known coronavirus case in

the metropolitan area, the re-

gion’s d eath toll hit 141, w ith 7,252

confirmed infections. As of sun-

day morning, the District had

1,002 confirmed cases and

22 deaths; Maryland had 3,610

cases and 67 deaths; and Virginia

had 2,640 cases and 52 deaths.

Maryland, meanwhile, contin-

ued its struggle to contain out-

breaks that have so far struck

see the region on B4

the coronaVirus PandeMic

Hogan issues an emergency order for nursing homes

D.C. shutters Wharf fish Market

Region’s death toll hits 141, with 7,252 infections

grocery worker dies: h er mother

recalls her care for others. b 4

nursing home: an outbreak

claims a retired firefighter. b6