Northam To Protesters: 'This Is Not The Time To Play Politics'

VIRGINIA — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam rejected calls Monday from President Donald Trump and protesters for the state to begin to lift restrictions that were put in place to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19. At a press briefing, Northam reiterated a message Vice President Mike Pence told governors in a conference call earlier in the day on the best way to fight the coronavirus: "One team, one mission."

As for when Virginia will ease restrictions on social gathering, Northam said the state has been following CDC guidance released by the Trump administration. Those guidelines state that states need to have 14 days of declining new case totals before they can begin easing restrictions. Virginia is still far from meeting that goal, the governor said.

Northam said the Trump administration is sending mixed message by releasing guidelines to states that outline when they should begin to ease restrictions and then Trump tweeting "liberate Virginia."

Protesters gathered in Richmond last week and are expected to return this week to urge Northam to lift restrictions on social gathering and businesses. At Monday's press briefing, Northam said he also wants to ease restrictions and "doesn't really need protesters to remind" him how to open up businesses safely.

Northam described looking out the windows of the governor's mansion during a protest last week and seeing groups of children six inches apart on blankets and about 50 adults gathering without wearing masks. He said the protesters are not only putting themselves and their neighbors at risk, but they are putting health care providers and their families at risk. "This is not the time to play politics," the governor said.

Also on Monday, Northam announced his administration has created a work group that will look at ways to expand testing for the coronavirus across the state. The work group will study how to remove the obstacles that are currently limiting testing.

Northam emphasized that the ability to run a large number of tests is key to any plan to ease restrictions on businesses and gatherings. The governor said the Virginia state laboratory can now perform 300 tests a day, and, with equipment sent from Altria this week, will be able to run 400 tests a day by next week.

But Virginia is competing for testing supplies from federal stockpiles and companies. Until shortages of key supplies needed for testing, like the swabs used for tests and container to safely store tests, are addressed, the governor said the state will still be limited in the number of tests it can conduct.

The new testing work group will be headed by Dr. Lillian Peake, the state epidemiologist, and Dr. Karen Remley, the former Virginia Department of Health commissioner. As of Monday, testing criteria in Virginia focused on patients hospitalized with symptoms, emergency responders, people exposed to known cases, and people who are being admitted to long-term care centers.

"This group will make sure that we have the testing capabilities and supplies we need as we move forward into the summer and fall," Northam said.

In her comments, Dr. Laurie Forlano, deputy commissioner of population health at the Virginia Department of Health and head of the state's long-term care task force, said Monday that the state has received requests for testing from long-term care facilities experiencing coronavirus outbreaks. Forlona said the task force is working on how to deploy resources to help those facilities.

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On Friday, Richmond and Henrico County Health District Director Dr. Danny Avula recommended to families who have the option to bring a family member home from a long-term care facility that this would be a good time to do that, given the number of coronavirus outbreaks at these facilities.

Forlano said the state is not opposed to families bringing home a family member from a long-term care facility. "But it's important to acknowledge that not every family is in that position to be able to do that," she said. "We hope to put out some guidance around how best to make that decision to make sure that you are prepared to care for someone if you do bring them home because we want to assure safety of an individual no matter where they are."

Northam said he had been on a White House call with governors earlier on Monday. On that call, Vice President Pence told governors that the Defense Production Act would be soon used to increase production of swabs to send out across the country to help with testing.

As of Monday, the Virginia Department of Health reported 8,990 positive coronavirus cases, an increase of 453 since Sunday. The number of deaths rose by 23 to a total of 300 statewide.

Henrico County continues to lead the state with 72 deaths. The county is home to the hard-hit Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center. The facility reported at least 49 deaths and over 100 people who tested positive for COVID-19, according to WRIC. The medical director in charge told the television station that the end of the crisis is approaching as new cases have gone down.

Among the state's 139 outbreaks, 77 are in long-term care facilities. These outbreaks, defined as two or more confirmed cases, are associated with 915 cases and 77 deaths at long-term care facilities.

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