Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam will unveil Monday what phase one plans look like for reopening the commonwealth’s economy.
Under a current executive order, the closure of nonessential businesses is scheduled to end May 8.
“We are still looking at that blueprint. We are looking at the criteria that we’re going to be using – the diminishing cases, the amount of PPE, the amount of testing capabilities, our hospital capacity. Those are all things that we’re taking into consideration,” Northam said. “I will give further guidelines on Monday regarding that plan. I realize, as a small business owner, that planning is real important, and with that date coming up on Friday, we will certainly give the guidelines on Monday.”
Northam noted some states’ phase one reopening plans include many things Virginia already is doing, including opening beaches to exercise and allowing hospitals to perform elective procedures, although the latter did not go into effect until Friday in Virginia.
As Northam noted, testing is part of the criteria he will use in shaping reopening plans. Virginia Department of Health Commissioner Norm Oliver said Friday that Virginia has changed its methodology for how it is counting COVID-19 tests.
“One of the metrics that we’re looking at to judge when we’re ready to move into phase one for Virginia is the percent of positive tests to total tests,” Oliver said. “We were previously counting people who were tested and not tests, which makes it not possible to really calculate that well, in terms of proportion of tests.”
The change in methodology resulted in a large spike in testing numbers Friday, when the state went from 90,843 on Thursday to 105,648 on Friday.
As of Sunday morning, the Virginia Department of Health reported 119,065 total tests conducted, with 18,671 COVID-19 cases and 660 deaths.
“Virginia is home to some of the finest minds and institutions, and we have the resources necessary to be a leader in fighting COVID-19,” House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock said. “Lives and livelihoods are at risk every day we don’t have a good picture of the COVID-19 footprint in our communities. We can and must do better.”
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus. The disease has caused at least 67,300 deaths in the U.S., with more than 1.17 million confirmed cases in the country. COVID-19 symptoms appear within two to 14 days after exposure and include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.
