The onset of COVID-19 was swift and unpredictable.
We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to thoughtfully build toward a more equitable, resilient, and vibrant city, but we will need to be measured, data-driven, and deliberate to ensure a safe and sustainable return.
ReOpen DC is about working together as a community to reopen Washington, DC in a way that is safe and sustainable. Together, we will create a plan that is based in science and tailored to the needs of our community.
How Can You Participate?
- Share Your Ideas Survey COMING SOON
- Community Townhall on April 29, 2020 RSVP COMING SOON
How Do We ReOpen DC?
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will advise the ReoOpen DC Advisory Group. The work will be guided by their Public Health Principles for a Phased Reopening During COVID-19: Guidance for Governors
There are three phases of reopening:
- Emergency Response – Where we are now
- Stabilization – what ReopenDC will focus on, which involves relaxing restrictions but closely monitoring and quickly responding to negative metrics
- Long-term Recovery – How we find a new, more resilient normal. Likely started once a vaccine is widely available
ReOpen DC Advisory Group
The Advisory Group will deliver a ReopenDC Plan v. 1.0 to the Mayor that:
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Proposes how to ReOpenDC toward its values and priorities
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Recommends deployment of the best approaches and innovations from DC residents, and from around country and globe
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Proposes a phased reopening with mitigation guidelines by sector to ensure a safe and responsive process
ReOpen DC Advisory Group Chairpersons
Reopen DC Advisory Group Co-Chairpersons
ReOpen DC Advisory Group Committees
Mayor's Charge
On Thursday, April 23, 2020, Mayor Bowser announced her plans to ReOpen DC. She said that we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not just reopen our city, but to build a more equitable DC. We will need to be measured, data-driven, and deliberate to ensure a safe and sustainable return. ReOpen DC is about working together as a community to reopen Washington, DC in a way that is safe and sustainable. Together, we will create a plan that is based in science and tailored to the needs of our community.
ReOpen DC will follow the guidance of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Public Health Principles for a Phased Reopening During COVID-19: Guidance for Governors (JHU Report) and include phasing based on critical public health metrics and capacity. It also includes a focus on community-based guidelines, sector-based guidance, and clear communications.
The ReOpen DC Advisory Group will advise Mayor Bowser on how to bring Washington, DC back to life after the unprecedented response to COVD-19 in our city, our nation and our world. More than 3,000 DC residents have been infected by the corona virus (much less than early modeling suggested). There have been 150 DC lives lost to COV19 as of April 22.
The economic life of Washington DC has been substantially shut down since March 16, 2020, when our schools and government operations were closed or their operations significantly modified. These closures were followed by a ban on large gatherings, closures of restaurant and bars, and the shuttering of non-essential businesses and culminated with the Mayor issuing a Stay at Home Order.
The District's unprecedented response to the pandemic has shuttered vibrant businesses, driven over 70,000 DC workers to file for unemployment and have created a $700 million revenue gaps in the District's current 2020 budget and even more in FY21 and the ensuing years of our multi-year budget.
Mayor Bowser has created ReOpen DC Advisory Committee, made up of a Steering Committee and 11 Sector Committees to help envision and plan for a sustainable and sustainable reopening through community-driven guidance, in accordance with the JHU report. They will develop a ReOpen DC Plan which:
- Proposes how to ReOpen DC toward its values and priorities
- Recommends deployment of the best approaches and innovations from DC residents, and from around country and globe
- Proposes a phased reopening with mitigation guidelines by sector to ensure a safe and responsive process
Mayor Bowser has charged the group to anchor its efforts in four values:
- Health: We value a healthy and safe city: In addition to ensuring our residents are healthy, this is an opportunity to prioritize the improvement of health outcomes, the development of more responsive emergency services a healthy environment, and a reduction in traffic fatalities, injuries, and crime.
- Opportunity: We value creating a chance for residents to thrive. As Through recovery, we can help residents achieve their goals through supporting a vibrant job market and planning for new job opportunities through education and training. We can support our small businesses and entrepreneurs with technical and financial assistance to come back stronger.
- Prosperity: We value a vibrant city. We know that restarting our city is critical for our businesses and residents and will take shared responsibility. We will need to ensure a strong financial recovery for our government and businesses, to support critical investments in our schools, infrastructure, social services, childcare, world-class places and spaces, and housing for families.
- Equity: We value improving outcomes for our most vulnerable. Affordable housing, convenient and healthy communities, healthy food, local business development, retail options, and great community facilities should be found close to home and in all neighborhoods across the city by targeting resources to those communities that need them most.
The above four HOPE values are adapted from the eight DC Values developed during the Comprehensive Plan Update engagement process that reflect the concerns that are most important to DC residents. The full report is available at dc2me.com.