Northern Va. Re-Opening Officially Delayed for Two Weeks

Dear WANADA Members,

On Tuesday, Gov. Ralph Northam officially delayed the implementation of the "phase one" reopening plan in Northern Virginia for two additional weeks. Under Executive Order 62, the status quo under Executive Order 53, known as "phase zero," will remain in effect for the region until at least 11:59 p.m. on May 28. The rest of the state will proceed to phase one under Executive Order 61 on Friday.

Under the terms of the executive order, the delay will go into effect in the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, and also the independent cities of  Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, and Manassas Park.

Stafford, Clarke, and Spotsylvania counties, plus the city of Fredericksburg, will join the rest of the commonwealth outside of Northern Virginia in proceeding to phase one on Friday. Outside of Northern Virginia, a significant number of retail businesses will be able to operate at up to 50 percent of their lowest published capacity, while adhering to the same social distancing requirements outlined under EO 53 back in March.

As Gov. Northam's office noted in a news release this afternoon announcing the regional delay, Northern Virginia's rate of COVID-19 cases, and the rate of positive tests, remains much higher than the rest of the commonwealth.

Please note that the statewide mask requirement for employees in public-facing areas will still go into effect on Friday. The long-standing mandate limiting patron capacity to 10, while maintaining social distancing for all employees and customers, also remains active until at least May 28. The state Department of Health has the authority to enforce these regulations, and empowered to close non-compliant businesses. We continue to encourage you to diligently comply with these ordinances, and to document your efforts to do so.

Please let me or Joe Koch ( jk@wanada.org) know if you have any questions. You can find links to the state and local health departments on the  WANADA COVID-19 Information Library. We know that this process has been fraught, but we are fortunate that Virginia and Maryland have both allowed auto sales and repair services to continue throughout this crisis. Thank you all for your commitment to safety and service through this really unprecedented time.

Sincerely,
  
John O'Donnell
WANADA President and CEO