Statewide Curfew Mandated By Virginia Governor

VIRGINIA — Gov. Ralph Northam updated his stay-at-home order Thursday to modify restrictions already in place across the state to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The changes include a new statewide curfew, a universal mask requirement and lowering the size of social gatherings.

Under the curfew, which goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday, residents must stay inside from midnight to 5 a.m., unless they are commuting to or from work, obtaining food and goods, or seeking medical attention.

"You should stay home whenever you can during the rest of the day, but from midnight to 5 a.m. you need to stay home," Northam said during a Thursday afternoon press briefing. "If you don't need to go out, go home. This is just plain common sense."

Northam's new order expands the current statewide mask mandate, bringing it in line with current guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, all residents age 5 and older must wear a face covering at both indoor and outdoor public settings outside their own household.

The governor said most people are following measures such as mask-wearing but the state will be step up enforcement.

"We received the most complaints about people not wearing masks in businesses, mostly restaurants, brick-and-mortar facilities, the grocery store and convenience stores," Northam said. "So far, our safety teams have issued 181 enforcement letters for violations. These are actions against people who couldn't be bothered to do the simple things that everyone else is working hard to do, and that is to wear a mask, stay home, avoid crowds."

Northam also reduced the cap on the size of social gatherings from 25 to 10 people. This applies, but is not limited, to parties, celebrations and other social events, whether they are indoor or outdoor. The restriction does not apply to religious services, job sites or school settings. Restaurants and retail stores are already facing social distancing requirements, so they are not included in this limit.

"A handful of people still need to get the message that this is serious, so enforcement will continue and enforcement will be stepped up," Northam said. "Now I want everyone to understand this is not about getting people in trouble. This is about doing the right thing. Stay home whenever you can, wear a mask when you can when you have to go out. If you can telework, you need to do that."

See also: Most Will Get Coronavirus Vaccine But Questions Raised: VA Survey

Northam introduced these new restrictions as the state faces a surge in new COVID-19 cases unlike any it has experienced since the start of the pandemic.

"The case numbers in Virginia are still better than most of the rest of the country, but they're not good anywhere even here in Virginia," he said. "Case numbers have been rising for weeks. They're now at record high levels. They're higher now than they ever have been during this entire pandemic."

Hospitalizations have increased by more than 80 percent in the last four weeks, putting a strain on the hospital systems in many regions across the state.

"In many parts of the country intensive care units are at capacity," Northam said. "There are no more ICU beds. Mercifully, that's not the case in most of Virginia, and that's a good thing. But hospitalizations in the ICU have been rising since early November, and capacity is becoming a problem in southwest Virginia and could soon become an issue here in central Virginia."

The biggest problem facing Virginia hospitals is staffing, where nurses and doctors are exhausted from working around the clock or months.

"Even worse, many of them are now dealing with COVID at home," Northam said. "They live with someone who gets it or they get it themselves. That takes them out of the work rotation and it makes the pressure on other workers even worse."

The governor took a few minutes in his presentation to share a YouTube video featuring Emily, a registered nurse who works for Ballad Health, which serves southwestern Virginia and eastern Tennessee. Her message for the public was to save one life by wearing a mask and not going out if they didn't have to.

"I want everyone to understand this up front. We do not want to extend this, but we may have to," Northam said, of his new restrictions. "It all depends on what the virus is doing next month, and that depends on what you do right now. If the virus starts to come under control, we may be able to loosen up. But if not we may have to take further action."

Virginia has seen its average of daily cases and current COVID-19 hospitalizations reach new highs in recent days. On Thursday, 3,915 new cases were reported, and the latest seven-day average of daily cases is 3,791. Cases by region include 934 in the northern region, 931 in the southwest region, 895 in the northwest region, 657 in the eastern region and 498 in the central region.

Current hospitalizations stand at 2,018, the highest statewide number so far. That includes 410 patients in the intensive care units and 201 on ventilators. Hospitalizations by region are 567 in the northern region, 422 in the southwest region, 386 in the eastern region, 336 in the northwest region, and 307 in the central region.

Ventilator use among all hospital patients is at 30 percent capacity, and ICU occupancy is at 78 percent, according to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. The average ICU occupancy in 2019 was 67 percent. No hospitals have reported difficulty obtaining personal protective equipment since Sept. 18.

There were 54 new deaths reported on Thursday, and the seven-day average of daily deaths reported is 27. Data on deaths by the date on death certificates shows the days with the most deaths in May. Data may be incomplete for the most recent weeks.

Northam last implemented new statewide restrictions on Nov. 15. That included a limit of 25 people for public and private gatherings; expansion of the face mask mandate to anyone 5 and over for indoor public places; a ban on alcohol sales, consumption and possession of alcohol after 10 p.m. at restaurants, dining establishments, food courts, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries or tasting rooms; and strengthened enforcement of state guidelines that had been best practices at essential businesses.

The governor first announced measures on March 23 to ban gatherings over 10 people, close certain nonessential businesses and close schools for the academic year. The first phase of Northam's reopening plan began May 15 for all areas except Northern Virginia, Richmond and Accomack County, and Northern Virginia entered phase one on May 29. Phase two began for all but Northern Virginia and Richmond on June 5, and those areas began it on June 12.

All of the state has been in phase three of Northam's reopening plan since July 1. While that status hasn't changed, additional restrictions were placed on Hampton Roads from July 31 to Sept. 10 in response to a surge in that region.

The new restrictions come as Virginia and other states wait on approval of a COVID-19 virus vaccination. Pfizer and Moderna have applied for emergency use authorizations with the FDA, and Northam previously said approval of Pfizer's vaccine could be expected as early as mid-December.

Once approved, vaccine distribution to states will immediately start. Based on new information about the federal government's Operation Warp Speed, Virginia health officials are preparing to receive an estimated 480,000 doses of vaccine from two manufacturers — Pfizer and Moderna — by the end of the month. This is a considerably larger amount than the estimated initial 70,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine Northam said last week the state could expect from Pfizer alone.

The larger number of doses will ensure that nearly all of the 480,000 people in Virginia's two top-priority groups — health care personnel and long-term care facility residents — will be taken care of in the first round of vaccinations. The Virginia Department of Health estimates up to 500,000 people are in these two groups.

Below are the latest coronavirus data updates for our coverage area from Wednesday to Thursday:

• Alexandria: 6,012 cases, 390 hospitalizations, 82 deaths; increase of 62 cases, two hospitalizations and one death
• Arlington County: 7,097 cases, 607 hospitalizations, 164 deaths; increase of 35 cases, three hospitalizations and two deaths
• Fairfax County: 35,428 cases, 2,659 hospitalizations, 632 deaths; increase of 432 cases, four hospitalizations and three deaths
• Fairfax City: 234 cases, 20 hospitalizations, 10 deaths; increase of two cases
• Falls Church: 134 cases, 16 hospitalizations, six deaths; increase of six cases and one hospitalization
• Loudoun County: 11,420 cases, 575 hospitalizations, 151 deaths; increase of 150 cases and three hospitalizations
• Manassas: 2,466 cases, 143 hospitalizations, 28 deaths; increase of 26 cases
• Manassas Park: 784 cases, 62 hospitalizations, eight deaths; increase of eight cases
• Prince William County: 20,293 cases, 1,131 hospitalizations, 239 deaths; increase of 213 cases, four hospitalizations and two deaths
• Fredericksburg: 800 cases, 58 hospitalizations, six deaths; increase of five cases
• Spotsylvania County: 3,610 cases, 185 hospitalizations, 58 deaths; increase of 36 cases and one hospitalization
• Stafford County: 3,876 cases, 206 hospitalizations, 22 deaths; increase of 65 cases and one hospitalization

Patch editor Emily Leayman contributed to the reporting of this case.