NORFOLK, Va. — On Tuesday, Governor Ralph Northam issued a new executive order that specifically allowed Northern Virginia to delay "phase one" of reopening.
The order says Northern Virginia localities don't have to move forward with the first steps of reopening businesses until midnight on May 28. The rest of the state is set to start reopening on May 15.
The decision comes at the request of Northern Virginia local governments, as the area deals with a high percentage of the state's total cases.
In Northam's Monday press conference, he said the general reopening guidelines were "a floor, not a cieling," and said since the Northern Virginia counties were unified in wanting to wait, his office would support their decision.
Yesterday, he outlined how that region's coronavirus trends were not showing as much progress as areas in the rest of the state.
"The Northern Virginia Region has about a 25% positivity rate, while the rest of the Commonwealth is closer to 10%," the order reads. "Further, in the last 24 hours, the Northern Virginia Region reported over 700 cases, while the rest of the Commonwealth reported approximately 270. On any given day, 70% of the Commonwealth’s positive cases are attributable to the Northern Virginia Region."
In the text, the governor rules that violating the new order, and reopening a Northern Virginia business in a way that does not comply with regional reopening policies, could be considered a class one misdemeanor.
Here are the counties, cities and towns affected by the new order:
- Arlington
- Fairfax
- Loudoun
- Prince William
- Alexandria
- Fairfax
- Falls Church
- Manassas
- Manassas Park
- Dumfries
- Herndon
- Leesburg
- Vienna
