The Washington Post - USA (2020-11-13)

KLMNO

METRO

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 , 2020. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/REGIONAL EZ M2 B

THE DISTRICT

Howard University has

received $1 million to

open a center promoting

Black female leaders. B3

THE REGION

Local coordination will be

essential to deploying a

coronavirus vaccine, a

D.C. health official says. B5

OBITUARIES

Lucille Bridges, 86, stood

by her daughter during

school desegregation in

51 ° 58 ° 61 ° 53 ° New Orleans in 1960. B6

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

High today at

approx. 3 p.m.

62

°

Precip: 20%

Wind: NW

6-12 mph

BY RACHEL CHASON,

ERIN COX,

JULIE ZAUZMER

AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER

Some of Maryland’s largest
jurisdictions added new corona-
virus restrictions Thursday as
caseloads across the greater
Washington region jumped to
record territory for a ninth con-
secutive day.
Prince George’s and Anne Ar-
undel counties joined Baltimore
City on Thursday in implement-
ing Maryland’s strictest limits for
indoor social gatherings, forbid-
ding groups of more than 10
people inside. Leaders across the
region have watched as health

metrics backslide, prompting ad-

ditional social and economic re-

strictions this week as caseloads

mirror a national surge.

Across Maryland, Virginia and

D.C., the rolling seven-day aver-

age number of new cases stood at

a record 3,083 daily infections.

D.C.’s infection rates for the first

time rose to levels that could

trigger tougher restrictions un-

der city guidelines, although offi-

cials said no changes are immi-

nent.

In Maryland’s second-largest

jurisdiction, Prince George’s

County Executive Angela D. Also-

brooks (D) on Thursday issued an

executive order to reimpose pan-

demic-related restrictions for the

first time.

Her order, which goes into

effect at 5 p.m. Sunday, limits

gathering sizes to 25 people out-

doors and 10 people indoors.

Restaurants, which had been al-

lowed to operate at 50 percent

capacity, w ill be limited t o 25 per-

cent capacity indoors and 50 per-

cent outdoors.

Capacity at gyms and bowling

alleys also will be limited to

25 percent. The capacity at most

large retail stores will stay at

50 percent, but Alsobrooks said

the county will step up enforce-

ment to ensure those guidelines

are being followed.

She also ordered that residents

wear masks when outside unless

vigorously exercising.

“We really have to hunker

down,” Alsobrooks said at a news

conference. “We are there in the

midst of another surge.”

She said new cases and hospi-

talizations are rising to concern-

ing levels. The county’s infection

rate — measuring on average

how many people are infected by

each person who tests positive —

is 1.15, which she said puts Prince

George’s in a “high-risk” zone. A

test positivity rate of 6.4 percent

is the county’s highest since July.

“We know you are fatigued of

covid-19,” she said. “I am fatigued

of covid-19... but it is so impor-

tant that we stay the course.”

The rolling seven-day average

number of new daily coronavirus

infections in Prince George’s

County was 216 on Thursday, a

number that has doubled since

mid-October.

County Health Officer Ernest

L. Carter warned that another

coronavirus wave has arrived

and said residents need to “re-

commit themselves to making

the necessary sacrifices.”

He said that the county has

plenty of hospital bed capacity

but that the number of hospital-

izations tied to the pandemic is

rapidly i ncreasing. T here were 69

such hospitalizations last week,

the most since June. Contact-

tracing continues to show that

SEE REGION ON B5

Md. counties add coronavirus restrictions as infections rise across region

New cases in region

Through 5 p.m. Thursday, 3,126

new coronavirus cases were

reported in the District, Maryland

and Virg inia, bringing the total

number of cases to 376,434.

D.C. MD. VA.

+128 +1,4 77 +1,521

18,50 71 59,900 198,027

Coronavirus-related deaths

As of 5 p.m. Thursday:

D.C. MD.* VA.

+0 +12 +1 7

657 4,261 3,758

* Includes probable covid-19 deaths

BY MICHAEL E. RUANE

B

araka, the 400-pound silverback

gorilla, lay on his back with a tube

down his throat, red-and-orange

booties on his feet, and his insides

beamed in color on a video screen.

It was an inelegant position for the leader

of the National Zoo’s troop of western low-

land gorillas — the boss, the arbiter of

disputes, the ultimate authority.

For several hours Thursday, veterinarians,

technicians and keepers poked him, drew

blood, checked his heart and used special

scopes to peer at his stomach and other

organs as he lay anesthetized at the zoo’s

veterinary hospital.

All the while, as monitors beeped, he

rested with his mouth propped open and his

gigantic hands limp. Zoo veterinarian James

Steeil had cautioned those present, other

than the veterinarians, not to hold Baraka’s

hands. Should they involuntarily contract, it

would be very painful.

And if the gorilla moved, people should

“exit the room,” he said.

Baraka stayed asleep.

The procedures, including a rare — for

gorillas — endoscopic ultrasound, were done

because Baraka had in recent months

showed signs of abdominal distress. Zoo

experts wanted to see whether they could

find the cause.

Special examination equipment was

trucked to the zoo earlier in the week from

Pentax Medical in Montvale, N.J., company

spokesman Daryl Testa said.

In the end, Baraka’s digestive tract looked

fine, Steeil said, though the source of his

stomach problem remained elusive.

“The liver is normal,” Steeil said. “The gall

bladder is normal. The pancreas is normal.

The stomach, the esophagus... are all nor-

mal.”

SEE GORILLA ON B2

The big guy gets a once-over

National Zoo’s head g orilla goes in for a thorough checkup after recent stomach troubles

MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST

Baraka, a 400-pound silverback gorilla, was anesthetized Thursday at the National Zoo so he could undergo a range of medical tests. The

leader of the zoo’s lowland-gorilla contingent, Baraka stayed asleep throughout the procedures, which included X-rays and an ultrasound.

“I want him to lay out how

normal and boring being the

husband of a powerful woman is,”

said one of my longtime dad

friends, the husband of an

outspoken, politically active

lawyer. He has grown more than a

little tired of well-meaning moms

leaping in to help him with his

kids or fawning over the fact that

he’s the one volunteering in class.

“We need the first female

president, so we can have the

second female president, so we

can stop caring so much about all

these firsts,” the dad said.

Harris’s historic place as the

nation’s first female vice

president is remarkable. She has

SEE DVORAK ON B3

Doug Emhoff
doesn’t need to go
promoting literacy
or fighting explicit
lyrics or Being
Best (whatever
that means).
As the husband
of Vice President-
elect Kamala D. Harris and the
highest-ranking husband in
electoral history, Emhoff has the
chance to do something bigger
and further-reaching than any of
the usual first and second lady
causes.
He needs to champion
something that can help nearly
every household in America —
normalcy.

Harris’s husband could

embody a new normal

Petula
Dvorak

BY MARISSA J. LANG

AND PETER HERMANN

Demonstrations in support of

President Trump’s refusal to ac-

cept the results of the presidential

election will descend on down-

town Washington this weekend.

The events have been promot-

ed by far-right media personal-

ities, white nationalists and con-

spiracy theorists — several of

whom announced plans to at-

tend. Counterdemonstrations or-

ganized by anti-fascist and anti-

racism groups are being planned

nearby.

The rallies, which include a

Women for Trump event, a “Mil-

lion MAGA March” and a “Stop

the Steal” demonstration —

which falsely asserts that voter

fraud cost Trump the election —

will begin Saturday morning in

and around Freedom Plaza.

The pro-Trump rallies have

garnered support from Fox News

host Sean Hannity as well as more

fringe figures, including Enrique

Ta rrio, chairman of the Proud

Boys; self-described “A merican

Nationalist” and social media agi-

tator Nicholas Fuentes; conserva-

tive provocateur Jack Posobiec,

who promoted the “Pizzagate”

conspiracy theory tied to the 2016

shooting at D.C. pizzeria Comet

Ping Pong; Scott Presler, a pro-

Trump activist who works with

anti-Muslim group ACT for Amer-

ica; and Infowars founder and

conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Jones has said he is leading a

“Stop the Steal” caravan from Te x-

as that is expected to arrive Friday

SEE PROTESTS ON B4

Trump’s

backers

to rally

in D.C.

COUNTERPROTESTS

ARE IN THE WORKS

No permits yet for events

promoted by far right

BY MEAGAN FLYNN

“Why do people think I have to

concede? I WILL NOT CON-

CEDE,” wrote Manga Anantatmu-

la, the Virginia Republican who

lost to Rep. Gerald E. Connolly

(D) last week by 43 points and

nearly 170,000 votes.

“Please donate what you can to

help me in my battle against

potential fraud!” wrote Leon Ben-

jamin, who lost to Rep. A. Donald

McEachin (D-Va.) by more than

22 points and 89,000 votes, ac-

cording to unofficial returns.

“We must defeat those who will

lie, cheat, and steal to win an

election at any cost,” wrote

Rep.-elect Bob Good — who won

his own race in central Virginia

but is supporting President

Trump’s effort to challenge the

national results.

Their claims are part of a ca-

cophony of doubt that Republi-

cans have sown in the election

since Trump lost to President-

elect Joe Biden. Across the region,

some losing candidates have

yelled “stop the steal” with pro-

Trump protesters. Some, like Ben-

jamin, are raising money for their

own “legal defense” (though Ben-

jamin said in a statement he will

return the donations if it turns

out he has no actionable case).

SEE ELECTION ON B4

Many Va., Md. Republicans adopt Trump s cript

KENDALL WARNER/LYNCHBURG NEWS & ADVANCE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rep.-elect Bob Good (R-Va.) won his House race but is backing

President Trump’s challenge of the national election results.

Lawmakers, challengers

press fraud allegations,

refuse to concede