Despite virus, parties go on across capital

It’s the season for holiday gatherings, both official and informal. But it’s also still very much pandemic season, and COVID19 infection numbers are setting records in the nation’s capital.

Despite the surge, President Trump’s administration has pushed ahead with as many as two dozen holiday events, including last week’s Congressional Ball.

The District of Columbia’s Health Department can’t do much more than track the numbers and hope its virus guidelines are being followed.

Last month, with virus numbers on the rise, Mayor Muriel Bowser dialed up the city’s virus restrictions, limiting the size of indoor gatherings to 10 people. But the White House and other federal properties are not required to comply with those rules.

Similarly, any COVID19 protocol violations happening inside Washington’s many foreign embassies or consulates would be outside the D. C. government’s jurisdiction.

Over the course of the pandemic, the D. C. government has found itself at odds with the White House, which operated for months in open violation of mask protocols and local virus restrictions. At least one event — a Sept. 26 Rose Garden gathering for Supreme Court nominee Amy

Coney Barrett — was later labeled a superspreader after multiple attendees tested positive. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar suggested that partying during a pandemic isn’t forbidden, as long as revelers follow the public health advice about wearing face coverings, washing their hands and watching how close they get to other people.

Azar said he felt “comfortable” at a recent White House party, although photos of those gatherings posted on social media have shown welldressed guests packed into Christmas treelined hallways and few of them wearing face masks.

Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press The National Christmas Tree glows on the Ellipse near the White House. President Trump’s administration is going ahead with up to two dozen holiday events even as infections rise in the capital.