We watch so you don’t have to
Governor Northam’s press conference today was largely directed at letting people know what a great job his administration has done during the COVID-19 crisis.
They have enough PPE’s for all health care providers.
Two hundred people are being hired to be contact tracers. People with COVID-19 will be interviewed, quarantined, and all of their contacts will be contacted so they too can be quarantined.
Obamacare has expanded Medicaid in Virginia by 421,000 people which gives them treatment for underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and COPD.
Anyone in the state can now get tested for the virus, with or without symptoms.
On Tuesday the Prince William County Board of Supervisors voted 5-3 to ask Governor Northam to allow them to open restaurants to outdoor service with 50% of capacity, like the rest of the commonwealth. When asked about this at the press conference Northam said he had heard about this request but there “must be consistency”. Basically his answer to Prince William (which he referred to as Loudoun) was no. (Why does PWC have to be consistent with Alexandria and Prince George’s County Maryland and not the rest of Virginia?)
Northam went on to say that the reopening phases offer a floor but not a ceiling. Local areas can impose more restrictions, but not fewer, and they must have permission from him to do it.
When Northam was asked when Northern Virginia might be allowed to enter Phase 1, the Governor said there was no timeline for that. The data must support reopening and it must be consistent. In other words, if Arlington is not doing as well as Northam demands for Phase 1, then Loudoun and Prince William will also remain in Phase 0, regardless of their data. These ‘consistencies’ are likely to include DC and close in Maryland counties, as the Governor previously did when not allowing NOVA to move to Stage One. People in Loudoun and Prince William Counties need to pay attention to the numbers in Prince George’s County because our fate is tied to them and DC. Governor Hogan and Mayor Bowser now have a large part in controlling what happens in Northern Virginia.
So despite what Chairman of the Board, Phyllis Randall, told the people of Loudoun that our county would be delayed on Phase One reopening until May 29th, that simply is not true. When asked today the Governor made it clear that there is no date for moving NOVA to Phase One. He said he may know more next week when he looks at the latest data.
There is also no timeline for the rest of the state to move to Phase Two.
Hang in there folks, we’re in for a long haul. Northam is going to remain King of the commonwealth for as long as possible.