Virginia Announces Gradual Reopening Timeline

Dear WANADA Members,

This afternoon, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Virginia may be able to move to "phase one" of the commonwealth's Forward Virginia re-opening plan as soon as next Friday. 

Under Executive Order 53, auto sales and repair businesses have been allowed to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic, so long as they adhere to social distancing regulations for customers and staff, and limit patron capacity to no more than 10 people at any time.

Gov. Northam's shift to "phase one," if actually implemented next week, would likely allow other currently-shuttered businesses like hair salons, some restaurants, and certain businesses, to reopen, while continuing to encourage telework wherever possible. It will also be "recommended" that Virginians continue wearing face masks while visiting public spaces, though we currently lack details on whether there will be actual enforcement of that guidance the way there is in Maryland.

We are awaiting additional guidance on whether this will impact any of the social distancing or patron capacity regulations for businesses that are currently allowed to remain open, and will let you know additional details as soon as they are published.

Please let me or Joe Koch ( jk@wanada.org) know if you have any questions. As always, you can find a wealth of resources, including links to Maryland, D.C., and Virginia's reopening plans, on the WANADA COVID-19 Information Library.

Sincerely,
  
John O'Donnell
WANADA President and CEO