The Washington Post - USA (2021-12-22)

Those who died — listed in a program mostly by age, not name, to preserve anonymity — were as young as 23 and as old as 77. Reginald Black, advocacy director for the People for Fairness Coalition, the organization behind the vigil, was homeless for about a decade before he secured housing in 2019. Black said he sometimes doesn’t know who among his friends in D.C.’s homeless community have died until he shows up at the vigil each December. “We need to work faster and smarter and harder to make sure our neighbors have the resources neces- sary to maintain housing,” Black said. “It is so terrible how we have to do this every year.”

KLMNO

METRO

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22 , 2021. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/LOCAL EZ SU B

JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON

Every day, outreach teams from Miriam’s Kitchen visit the people living in D.C.’s tent cities. B3

THE DISTRICT

School librarian embroiled in Holocaust reenactment controversy was convicted of fraud in New Jersey. B6

OBITUARIES

Abdelkarim Elkabli, 89, a venerated Sudanese performer, embodied the

39 ° 47 ° 44 ° 37 ° hopes of his nation. B6

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

High today at approx. 1 p.m.

49

°

Precip: 5% Wind: WNW 12-25 mph

New cases in region

Through 5 p.m. Tuesday, 11,810 new coronavirus cases were reported in t he District, Maryland and Virginia, bringing the total number of cases in the region to 1,731,710.

D.C.** MD. VA. +1, 155 +6,218 +4,43 7 76,137627,438 1,028,135

Coronavirus-related deaths As of 5 p.m. Tuesday:

D.C.** MD.* VA. +0 —+ 38 1,20711,255 15,174

* Maryland has not reported deaths since Dec. 4. The state’s total includes probable covid-19 deaths. ** On Tuesday, D.C. also reported its data from Dec. 17 to 19: an additional 3,763 cases and one death.

BY GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER,

MICHAEL BRICE-SADDLER,

RACHEL CHASON

AND ERIN COX

Coronavirus cases surged to new highs in parts of the Wash- ington metropolitan area Tues- day, leading residents on a mad dash to find scarce home-testing kits and causing officials to warn of a need for tighter precautions and more hospital capacity. Just in time for the holiday travel season, Maryland and the District are hitting unprecedent-

ed levels of new confirmed coronavirus cases and Virginia is climbing to daily levels not seen since September. The surge takes place as the omicron variant of the virus seems to be driving a flare-up of infections nationally. “We’re entering another pivot- al moment in the fight against covid-19,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Tuesday, his voice hoarse, in a video briefing record- ed at the governor’s mansion, where he is isolating after devel- oping covid-19. Tuesday’s case count obliterat- ed previous pandemic records in Maryland, with 6,218 positive tests reported in the preceding 24 hours. The previous one-day record, logged at the height of last winter’s surge, was 3,758. The seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 more than doubled in

one day in Maryland, from 40.28 on Monday to 82.14 on Tuesday. In D.C., the seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 reached 133 on Tuesday — the highest it’s been during the entire pandemic by far. D.C. began seeing record daily numbers of coronavirus cases Thursday. Cases are rising in Virginia, as well. The seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 in that state reached 41.88 on Tuesday — a number not seen since Septem- ber. While the state’s overall totals have not spiked to record levels, some areas reported an alarming surge. Arlington County said it had 268 new cases Saturday, a single-day high. Residents around the region searched for rapid take-home tests as they reconsidered plans SEE VIRUS ON B5

D.C.-area cases surge to new highs

Officials warn of tighter precautions as residents scramble for testing kits

BY NICOLE ASBURY

AND LAURA MECKLER

Wilson High School, the Dis- trict’s largest public high school, was open for business as usual on Tuesday, but Brian Smith kept his daughter home. The ongoing surge in coronavirus infections — including 50 positive tests at Wilson, according to its student newspaper — was enough to spook him and many

other parents across the city. “Hearing all of the cases in the schools and the constant string of emails about children testing positive right here at the end of the semester... it just made sense to take a step back and let the holi- days come,” said Smith, 43, who lives in Glover Park in Northwest Washington. Smith said he tries not to “overreact or underreact,” but the recent wave, he said, “seems to hit a little closer to home.” Tuesday evening, with one day to go before the holiday break, Wilson became the latest D.C. school to shift to virtual learning because of coronavirus outbreaks. Drew Elementary School and SEE SCHOOLS ON B8

Virus propels closures,

absences at D.C. schools

Surge in cases pushes officials to reassess how to carry out instruction

BY LUZ LAZO

A 10-mile extension of the 95 Express Lanes in Northern Virginia is behind schedule as the project is entangled in a contrac- tual dispute over soil conditions that has slowed construction. Work on the $565 million project to bring high-occupancy toll lanes to Fredericksburg began in 2019 and was expected to be finished in October 2022. But officials with the Virginia Depart- ment of Transportation a nd toll operator Transurban said the roadway expansion will take lon- ger to complete. Transurban and its contractor, a joint venture between Branch Civil and Flatiron Construction (BFJV), are in a binding arbitration process to settle a dispute over costs and the project’s time- line, according to VDOT, which provides oversight of the project. BFJV has asserted that geolog- ic conditions in the construction zone have affected its ability to keep the project on schedule, VDOT said. At a hearing in Octo- ber, an arbitrator ruled that BFJV is entitled to an adjustment of the price and more time to complete the project because of the soil conditions. “A second arbitration hearing is expected to occur in January 2022 to resolve the level of relief to which the BFJV is entitled,” VDOT said in a statement. The agency said Transurban and BFJV have agreed to abide by the out- come without further litigation. Construction has continued while the dispute moves through arbitration, Transurban said. It declined to say how much more time or money it will need to build the lanes. Attempts to reach the BFJV group were unsuccess- ful. Transurban is extending the reversible 95 Express Lanes from Route 610 to Route 17 near Fred- ericksburg. The project is expected to deliver another milestone in the state’s vision to create a net- work of more than 90 miles of HOT lanes in Northern Virginia. Several other projects are in the works along the route as part of an expansion of the interstate that aims to reduce gridlock in a SEE LANES ON B3

Va.’s I-95

fast lanes

will miss

2022 goal

SOIL DISPUTE SLOWS

10-MILE EXTENSION

Builders say clay, silt in area force a new strategy

Courtland Milloy

He is away. His column will resume when he returns.

BY JUSTIN WM. MOYER

For nine years, unhoused people and their advocates have gathered in the District on or around the longest night of the year to commemorate those who died while homeless. This year’s memorial service, which began at Luther Place Memorial Church in Logan Circle on Monday evening ahead of an all-night vigil in Free- dom Plaza, came as D.C.’s homeless residents — already vulnerable in a city with steadily rising home prices — have suffered through two years of the pandemic and a recent spate of encampment clear- ances. Amid this historic upheaval, 69 people died “without the dignity of a home” in the District this year, according to literature distributed by vigil organizers. Twenty-two died before they could move into homes after receiving housing vouchers through outreach programs.

Even as officials say homelessness in the District has declined, the number who died while unhoused had been on the rise. Last year, at least 180 homeless people died in the District — a 54 percent increase over 2019, according to data from the city’s medical examiner. D.C.’s official tally of deaths among unhoused people often exceeds the informal count kept by advocates. City officials, who have provided death statistics in the past, did not do so this year despite requests. Vigil organizers also provided a list of 141 formerly homeless people who died after moving into housing. Julie Turner, a social worker for the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, an outreach organization for homeless people, said that although none of her clients died on the street this year, some died in homes they had secured only after years of rough living outside with preexisting medical conditions. SEE VIGIL ON B2

Dying without ‘dignity of a home’

Annual D.C. memorial vigil counts 69 lives lost in a tumultuous year

MICHAEL S. WILLIAMSON/THE WASHINGTON POST

Homeless people and activists march along 14th Street NW while carrying a symbolic coffin to represent those who died this year.

BY MARISSA J. LANG

The D.C. Council on Tuesday rejected an emer- gency bill aimed at restricting Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s authority to remove homeless encampments. The measure was defeated despite mounting pressure from local advocacy groups, homeless outreach workers and the American Civil Liberties Union — all of which have called the Democratic mayor’s efforts to clear some of the District’s largest

encampments harmful and cruel. Seven D.C. Council members opposed the legisla- tion as homeless residents and advocates gathered for demonstrations and services to mark the nationally observed Homeless Persons Memorial Day and remember those who have died this year. The bill would have paused all encampment evictions through the end of the District’s coldest months and established a formal process by which homeless residents could challenge official deci- sions to remove them from sidewalks, parks or

other public spaces. Some council members voiced concerns over the broad nature of the bill, the bureaucracy it introduced and, according to council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), the establishment of a “legal right” to camp outside in the city. Others noted that the mayor’s controversial pilot program, which seeks to eliminate some of the District’s largest encampments by offering some homeless individuals expedited vouchers for housing, SEE COUNCIL ON B2

Council defeats bill to pause clearing of homeless camps