Governor Ralph Northam says northern Virginia communities will have to wait at least two more weeks before they can begin to reopen.
Northam announced the delay during a livestream interview Tuesday morning with the Washington Post. Northam issued an executive order shortly afterward.
The delay means Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Arlington counties and the City of Alexandria can't begin Phase One of Northam's reopening plan until May 29th at the earliest. Local governments in those communities had requested a delay. It also impacts the cities of Manassas, Manassas Park, Fairfax and Falls Church
Northam said Monday that metrics for COVID-19 in northern Virginia were consistently higher than in the rest of the state.
After trending downward, COVID-19 deaths rebound
After several days of declines, the number of newly reported COVID-19-related deaths rebounded Tuesday. And the number of new test results reported to the Virginia Department of Health dropped dramatically.
The health department's Tuesday morning update included 41 additional deaths, bringing the state's total to 891.
730 new cases of COVID-19 were also reported Tuesday, raising the total to 25,800. Because the number of new test results dropped significantly, the positivity rate also jumped higher than in recent days. After nearly hitting the state's goal of 10,000 daily test results Monday, the health department reported only 3,481 results Tuesday. A total of 171,239 tests have now been conducted in the state.
The need for continued discipline
Health officials say Virginia’s move toward reopening later this week does not mean the health crisis is over.
Doctor Molly O’Dell with the Roanoke City-Alleghany Health District said Tuesday morning that there have been at least 20 new cases in the district in the previous 30 hours.
O’Dell said it will be more important than ever to adhere to personal and business guidelines. "We need to apply the same rigorous discipline of social distancing, face coverings, hand washing and cleaning of surfaces when we go out," O'Dell cautioned.
O’Dell said some businesses have told her it’s not worth the effort to reopen Friday with the expected limitations. She said others have said they’re excited to get started again.
O'Dell cited 293 cases and 19 deaths in the district that covers the Roanoke Valley and much of the Alleghany Highlands. About 55 of those cases are considered active, meaning the patient is still in the two-week isolation period. She said many of the 20 most recent cases are connected to identified outbreaks or family members of people involved in those outbreaks. O'Dell admitted the Virginia Department of Health dashboard may still not be correctly displaying the current case load in the district.
