DC mayor reports no new coronavirus deaths in city on Monday: ‘I said amen to myself’

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Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said no new coronavirus deaths were reported in her district on Memorial Day, amid a decrease in community transmission of the virus.

“I think when I heard it on my call this morning I said amen to myself,” Bowser said at a press conference Tuesday. “But I also know that it's one day, one day doesn't make a trend.”

Bowser added that 109 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded yesterday, bringing the total up to 8,334. A total of 440 have died due to the virus in D.C.

The D.C. mayor also said that the city remains on track to begin phase one of reopening on May 29, after 13 days of sustained decrease in community transmission of coronavirus.

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In mid-May, Bowser had extended the state’s public health emergency in D.C. requiring residents to stay home until June 8.

She said the district would continue to monitor the health care capacity and testing and tracing abilities as it began to reopen. According to Bowser, D.C. onboarded 50 new contact tracers on Tuesday and two new testing sites would open in the beginning of June.

D.C. is the last holdout in the region to begin the reopening process, as Virginia and Maryland have started already. But Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam excluded Northern Virginia, which shares a border with D.C., from beginning to reopen until at least May 29.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan lifted the stay-at-home order on May 15 and replaced it with a safer-at-home public health advisory, allowing many businesses to open at a limited capacity.

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Under phase one of reopening for the district, restaurants could open outdoor seating and non-essential retailers could open for curbside pickup. Barbershops and salons can reopen at a limited capacity, as well as child care. Work from home is still strongly encouraged.

At the same time, Metro Police Chief Peter Newsham announced crime is down across the city compared to this time last year. D.C. has seen a decrease of 12 percent for property crime, 17 percent for thefts, 15 percent for robberies and a "slight decrease in calls" for domestic violence incidents.

Fox News' Andres del Aguila contributed to this report.