Northern Virginia still Locked Down

On May 8th Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 61 effective at 12:00 a.m., May 15, 2020, easing certain restrictions imposed under Second Amended Executive Order 53 and Executive Order 55 (both Orders are now collectively referred to as Phase Zero). Executive Order 61 sets out the Commonwealth of Virginia’s path into Phase One. I was excited to breath a little more freedom and expected to be able to get my hair cut and start to get my life back on schedule.

However, on May 9, 2020, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair, Ann Wheeler, along with Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun Board of Supervisors, and the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park, as well as the Towns of Dumfries, Herndon, Leesburg, and Vienna (the total of the Northern Virginia Region) requested to remain in Phase Zero. They took this action because data showed that Northern Virginia still has substantially higher percentage of positive tests for COVID-19 than the rest of the Commonwealth. Northern Virginia has about a 25% positivity rate, while the rest of the Commonwealth is closer to 10%.

Accordingly, Governor Northam issued Executive Order 62 ordering all individuals in the  Northern Virginia Region to remain at their place of residence, except as provided below until 11:59 p.m., May 28, 2020. Hopefully, an additional two weeks will bring our number of cases in line with the rest of the Commonwealth. You've seen this all before, but just as a reminder...

Individuals may only leave their residences for the purpose of:

Obtaining food, beverages, goods.
Seeking medical attention, essential social services, governmental services, assistance from law enforcement, or emergency services;
Taking care of other individuals, animals, or visiting the home of a family member;
Traveling required by court order or to facilitate child custody, visitation, or child care;
Engaging in outdoor activity, including exercise, provided individuals comply with social distancing requirements;
Traveling to and from one’s residence, place of worship, or work;
Traveling to and from an educational institution;
Volunteering with organizations that provide charitable or social services; and
Leaving one’s residence due to a reasonable fear for health or safety, at the direction of law enforcement, or at the direction of another government agency.

As before essential retail businesses remain open in Northern Virginia.

I live in the northwest corner of Prince William where Loudoun County, Prince William and Fauquier County all converge. It seemed rather arbitrary to keep the restrictions by county line, but what do I really want to do anyway...Okay, we remain in Phase Zero hopefully, the additional two weeks will do the trick and lower the rate of infection.