US capital to drop Covid curbs for most businesses on May 21
Washington is to lift pandemic restrictions on most businesses and public venues in less than two weeks, with the daily toll of new COVID cases in the US capital at its lowest level in almost a year. As the vaccination drive gathers pace, the city's famed Smithsonian museums and zoo - as well as shops, places of worship and numerous other venues - will see curbs removed entirely by May 21. Bars, nightclubs and large entertainment venues and sports stadiums will have to wait until June 11 to fully reopen, Mayor Muriel Bowser's office said in a public health update. "On Friday, May 21 we will be turning on substantially more activity in the district," Bowser told reporters. "And we anticipate three weeks following that, on June 11 that we will be able to turn up activity in the district, all the way." The city has seen new daily infections drop into single figures per 100,000 people since an alarming January peak of more than 40, with the infection rate now at its lowest in 10 months. Infections are similarly down in neighbouring Virginia and Maryland. The District of Columbia has fully vaccinated 226,566 of its population of around 700,000. The capital began easing pandemic...