More than 15 million residents across the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia were ordered Monday to stay at home, and law enforcement across the Washington metropolitan region have begun aggressively enforcing the directives.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters at an outdoor press conference Tuesday that the Metropolitan Police Department is already reassigning its police force to deal with people who refuse to adhere to the new rule, which goes into effect at midnight. The orders prohibit all nonessential outings with exceptions for grocery shopping, medical care, performing an essential job, and limited other tasks.
The three states asked residents earlier this month to refrain from unnecessary socializing and outings, but the new order will be strongly enforced, the leaders said. Violators in Washington will face up to 90 days in jail or a $5,000 fine, while in Maryland, violators face up to a year in jail.
As of Tuesday, the Washington region has documented 3,411 confirmed coronavirus cases. Hogan said Monday he expects his region to be hit as hard as New York by mid-April, which led the three leaders to order the mandatory shutdown. New York reported its first case on March 1. By March 17, New York stood at more than 1,700 cases, and two weeks later, the state has 75,000 cases.
Maryland police have done 5,000 checks across the state to ensure people comply with the mandate, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said on CNN Tuesday.
“A lot of it is just to ensure compliance,” said Hogan, whose order affecting 6 million residents started Monday at midnight. “Only twice has it resulted in arrest. In both cases, there were extenuating circumstances where both just refused to comply, and so, two people have been arrested, just to show that we’re serious about it.”
In Virginia, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam expressed disappointment at how “packed” the state’s beaches have been.
“We will continue to enforce the 10 or less rule if we see people gathered, in any place throughout Virginia, especially in our beaches, in our parks, at nonessential businesses — that will be enforced,” said Northam, whose state is home to 8.5 million people.
Virginia police will not enforce the order “civilly,” and those found to be in groups of 10 or more people face a Class 1 misdemeanor charge, Northam said.
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Last week, Washington police officers transitioned from normal patrol duties to other tasks in line with supporting social distancing and staying inside. In one instance, police were diverted to block public access to the blooming cherry blossom trees at the Tidal Basin.
“We changed the contract that we had with our school safety officers so that they could be deployed to schools and parks and playgrounds and recreation spots that we saw people,” said Bowser.
At one busy park on Capitol Hill, police were dispatched Tuesday morning to blare a scripted public service announcement on their vehicle loudspeakers. The park was packed with dozens of people Sunday afternoon.
“It’s urging people and reminding them of the — that they need to stay at home, but if they’re going to be out that they need to practice social distancing,” said Bowser, whose region has approximately 705,000 residents.
Police have put up yellow tape in some places to keep people from gathering. Bowser specifically called for an end to pick-up basketball games because they are considered group exercise.
Businesses that are not restaurants and that do not sell critical items will face fines or have their licenses revoked, Bowser warned.
