VA Governor To Ease Coronavirus Restrictions Starting May 15

RICHMOND, VA — With declining hospitalizations across the state and increased coronavirus testing capability, Virginia is planning to start the first of three phases of reopening certain businesses and other activities on Friday, May 15, Gov. Ralph Northam said Monday at a news conference in Richmond.

Northam said he expects the first phase to last about three weeks before the state seeks to further ease restrictions on social gatherings. Phases two and three also will last about three weeks as long as health data supports the further easing of restrictions, the governor said.

With May 15 as the target date, Northam on Monday said he is extending an executive order — Executive Order 53 — closing most nonessential businesses that was set to expire May 8. A separate stay-at-home order set to end June 10 will remain in place.

On May 15, businesses could reopen with enhanced safety measures in place. This would include customers needing to make appointments for haircuts and reduced capacity for restaurants, gyms and retailers.

"You’ll be able to get your hair cut, but you’ll need an appointment and you’ll see additional safety measures in salons," Northam said. "Restaurants will use less of their seating to spread people out more. Employees will wear face coverings."

Businesses and offices will be required to enhance physical distancing to protect their workers and customers. They also will be required to do more cleaning and disinfecting.

"The message today is that we will reopen Virginia next Friday," Northam said. "Even when we ease some restrictions, we must continue to behave more cautiously than before. We must not relax our vigilance or think that the risk has passed."

Waiting until May 15 to enter phase one of the reopening will give businesses enough time to ensure customers feel safe entering their facilities, Northam said. "It will allow us to provide the guidelines to these businesses and when we do open ... we'll be able to do it as smoothly as possible and as safely as possible for all Virginians," he said.

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The Northam administration plans to publish additional guidelines for businesses such as restaurants, barber shops, entertainment venues and fitness centers before May 15. One of those guidelines will be allowing workers to take regular breaks to wash their hands.

Under phase two of the reopening process, the state will continue to ease restrictions as long as there remains a downward trend in hospitalizations, a stable supply of PPE and a declining rate of positive coronavirus tests.

"To move to phase three, we're looking for no evidence of rebound for a sustained period of time," Northam said.

The Northam administration plans to deploy 1,000 people to work as contact tracers. Dr. Norm Oliver, state health commissioner, said reopening Virginia means state officials must take a very serious approach to identifying new coronavirus cases and isolating people who are exposed. The state is beginning the process of hiring 1,000 contact tracers and is confident it can ramp up to the necessary number by May 15, he said.

Hospitals across the state already are gearing up to resume certain surgeries and procedures after Northam allowed doctors, dentists and veterinarians to resume elective procedures Friday. Mary Washington Healthcare, for example, resumed scheduled surgeries and procedures Monday.

Northam said the state is not planning to open up on a regional basis. Members of the business task force created by the governor overwhelmingly supported opening up on a statewide basis, not by region, the governor said.

"If we open some areas of the commonwealth and close others, people from the closed areas probably will travel to the open areas and not only bring new cases from hot spots, if you will, in Virginia but also potentially bring in cases from other states," Northam said.

As for communicating with Maryland and District of Columbia officials to coordinate reopening dates, Northam said, "We’re probably not going to do everything on the exact day, but we’re working as close as we can.”

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