NoVA Leaders Address Possible Reopening On May 29

Emily Leayman
Updated ·5 min read

VIRGINIA — Northern Virginia leaders say the region has met four of six criteria for the first phase of reopening, but did not request another delay in a letter to Gov. Ralph Northam. The potential reopening date for Northern Virginia, the city of Richmond and Accomack County is Friday, May 29; the rest of Virginia moved into phase one on May 15.

Health directors from Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William outlined Northern Virginia's performance on Northam's reopening metrics. The region is seeing a 14-day downward trend of positive tests and hospitalizations, increased testing, and sufficient hospital and intensive care capacity.

The health directors do not believe criteria on increased contact tracing and the increasing and sustainable supply of personal protective equipment in non-hospital settings have been met. On the contact tracing front, preparations are being made with increased capacity expected in the coming weeks.

Although health directors believe personal protective equipment supply for hospitals is sufficient, they highlighted challenges in places like private practices, long-term care facilities and first responder organizations.

"One of the two areas we don’t meet is contact tracing, but we are finalizing a contract hopefully this week to provide recruitment and staffing for the hundreds of contact tracers and investigators that we will need to increase our capacity of contract tracing," said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay. "The other is PPE and we have sufficient supply for hospitals, but are working to increase in other areas and hope the governor will be able to help us do that."

Before the first reopening reopening was delayed for Northern Virginia, the local health directors determined reopening metrics were either unmet or unable to be assessed for the region. Specific data for Northern Virginia is now available on the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and Virginia Department of Health websites.

The letter to Northam, accompanied by the health directors' assessment, came from the mayors and chairs of the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William, cities of Alexandria and Fairfax, and the towns of Dumfries, Herndon, Middleburg and Vienna. The leaders say their jurisdictions have been preparing for a transition into phase one of reopening on May 29.

Additionally, the leaders would like the region to align with the rest of Virginia for the second reopening phase "if the data supports it." In light of the mental health impacts of the stay-at-home order, they also requested accelerated services for those with mental health diagnoses, especially veterans.

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Northern Virginia's five health directors requested a few of the reopening metrics be refined. They asked for the sustainable supply of PPE metric to include places other than hospitals and ability to obtain supplies from non-government sources. Additional requests for metrics were ability to double patients treated in the ICU, contact tracing indicators, availability of facilities for non-hospitalized persons needing isolation or quarantine, and long-term care facility indicators.

Northam is holding a news conference Tuesday at 2 p.m. and is expected to announce a face mask requirement for indoor public places. The governor faced backlash over the weekend for not wearing a face mask while visiting Virginia Beach and interacting with people.

Update on Virginia's coronavirus numbers

As of Tuesday, Virginia's cumulative numbers stand at 39,342 cases, 1,236 deaths and 4,325 hospitalizations. That represents a 1,615-case increase from the last day, the highest daily number of new cases to date. The second highest number of new cases was 1,483 on Monday, with 1,069 of these coming from Northern Virginia region. There have been a number of recent large-scale testing events supported by the state health department, including in Loudoun County, Prince William County, Fairfax County and Alexandria.

Despite the increases in cases, the percentage of positive tests is trending down for the region. Northern Virginia's latest 7-day positivity rate for only polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests was 20.3 percent on May 23, down from 23.2 percent on May 20.

The region's percentage remains higher than the statewide average. Virginia's latest 7-day positivity rate for PCR tests is 14.1 percent, down from 14.4 percent Sunday.

As of Tuesday, the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association reported 1,403 people with pending or confirmed coronavirus test results currently hospitalized, up from 1,351 Sunday. A total of 5,227 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals, up from 5,102 on Sunday.

There are 190 COVID-19 patients using ventilators, down two from Sunday. A total of 619 ventilators of 2,954 available at hospitals are in use, representing 21-percent use in Virginia. A total of 366 pending or confirmed COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in the intensive care unit. No hospitals are experiencing difficulty obtaining or restocking protective gear or other medical supplies in the next 72 hours.

Here are the latest cumulative case updates for our coverage areas:

  • Alexandria: 1,785 cases, 175 hospitalizations, 41 deaths

  • Arlington County: 1,935 cases, 367 hospitalizations, 104 deaths

  • Fairfax County: 9,839 cases, 1,245 hospitalizations, 340 deaths

  • Fairfax City: 59 cases, eight hospitalizations, four deaths

  • Falls Church: 49 cases, 10 hospitalizations, six deaths

  • Loudoun County: 2,186 cases, 153 hospitalizations, 52 deaths

  • Manassas: 956 cases, 61 hospitalizations, nine deaths

  • Manassas Park: 277 cases, 30 hospitalizations, six deaths

  • Prince William County: 4,992 cases, 430 hospitalizations, 96 deaths

  • Fredericksburg: 136 cases, 16 hospitalizations, no deaths

  • Spotsylvania County: 463 cases, 35 hospitalizations, six deaths

  • Stafford County: 642 cases, 69 hospitalizations, four deaths

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This article originally appeared on the Vienna Patch