Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser extended the city’s state of emergency into 2022 even though there have been fewer than a dozen coronavirus deaths over the past month and local transmission remains at a seven-day average rate of 20 new daily cases per 100,000 people. The vaccination rates in the district are also well above average, with more than 70% of residents either partially or fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The data are clear: The pandemic is no longer an emergency here. It hasn’t been for quite some time. Indeed, Washington residents are now more likely to die from gunshots than from COVID-19. Yet city officials are dragging this out as long as they can, with prolonged mask mandates and now an extended emergency order that allows Bowser to implement new restrictions whenever she wants.