DC mayor: No ‘Phase 1 reopening date at this point’ despite moves by Virginia

close

Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for May 6

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on FoxNews.com.

Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.

Despite neighboring Virginia’s hopes to enter Phase 1 of a coronavirus reopening next week, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said her district has not picked a date to begin Phase 1 yet.

“We do not have a reopening or a Phase 1 date at this point,” said Bowser in a press briefing. The mayor said her team is looking into "several things" before entering Phase 1 -- a sustained period of declining cases, the city's hospital capacity and how to test and track people coming back into the economy.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said this week he anticipates his state to be ready to enter Phase 1 beginning May 15.  Hospital beds are reporting excess capacity, the state has adequate levels of personal protective gear and growth has slowed for the rate of infections, the governor said.

Still, Bowser told D.C. residents that if they left the district to participate in non-essential activities, they would be putting their community at risk.

The mayor said that with economies across the nation beginning to open up, “more people will get infected, we know that.”

NORTHAM ANNOUNCES PLAN TO START LIFTING CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS ON BUSINESSES NEXT WEEK

Originally, Washington-area leaders had pushed a message that their regions would coordinate for a reopening plan. When asked if D.C., Virginia and Maryland still had a coordinated plan, Bowser said she was going to do what’s best for her jurisdiction.

"What we see in all of the jurisdictions -- D.C., Maryland and Virginia -- growing case counts and continued community transmission,” she continued. “We know that opening up and people mixing in various ways are going to lead to increased infections. We know that.”

Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan outlined a reopening plan on April 24, but did not give a timeline. After Northam's announcement, Hogan's administration said it had no update on when Maryland might lift restrictions.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"As you know, Maryland, Washington and specifically Northern Virginia are in very densely populated areas, so we do communicate. We’re probably not going to do everything on the exact day, but we’re working as close as we can," Northam said Monday in his reopening announcement.

D.C. has confirmed 5,170 cases of coronavirus and 258 deaths.

Fox News' Kelly Phares contributed to this report.