This afternoon, Governor Northam announced new, stronger restrictions for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia that will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, December 14. The restrictions include a modified stay at home order and a limit of 10 individuals for social gatherings. This mandate will go into effect through January 31, 2021 unless rescinded or amended.

Reduction of social gathering limit to 10 people: All public and private in-person gatherings must be limited to 10 individuals, down from the current cap of 25 people. This includes outdoor and indoor settings. Social gatherings include, but are not limited to, parties, celebrations, or other social events, regardless of whether they occur indoors or outdoors. This does not apply to religious services, employment settings, or educational settings. Restaurants and retail stores are already governed by strict social distancing requirements, and are not included in this limit.

Modified stay-at-home order with curfew between 12:00-5:00 a.m.: All individuals in Virginia must remain at their place of residence between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Exceptions include obtaining food and goods, traveling to and from work, and seeking medical attention.

Universal mask requirements: All Virginians aged five and over are required to wear face coverings in indoor settings shared with others and when outdoors within six feet of another person. This order expands the current statewide mask mandate, which has been in place since May 29, and requires all individuals aged five and over to wear face coverings in indoor and outdoor public settings outside of their own household. These changes are consistent with new CDC guidelines, released December 4, which recommend universal wearing of face coverings.

Continued limits on dining establishments: Virginia restaurants are currently governed by strict social distancing and sanitization requirements, which remain in place. The on-site sale, consumption, and possession of alcohol remains prohibited after 10:00 p.m. in any restaurant, dining establishment, food court, brewery, microbrewery, distillery, winery, or tasting room. All restaurants, dining establishments, food courts, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, and tasting rooms must close by midnight.

Teleworking: Employees that can telework are strongly encouraged to do so.

The full text of Executive Order Seventy-Two, which incorporates earlier Executive Orders Sixty-Three Sixty-Seven is available here. 

For information about COVID-19 in Virginia, visit vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus.

The Chamber is here to support our members through the reopening process. Please visit our COVID-19 Resource Center for more reopening resources, and please reach out to us at chamber@arlingtonchamber.org if there is anything we can do to help you.