VA Governor To End COVID-19 State Of Emergency On June 30

VIRGINIA — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is ending the state’s COVID-19 state of emergency on June 30 as a result of a decline in coronavirus cases in the state.

The governor declared the state of emergency on March 12, 2020. The end of the state of emergency follows Northam's decision in May to lift nearly all restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past 15 months since the state of emergency was declared, nearly 700,000 Virginians have tested positive for the coronavirus and 11,280 people have died from COVID-19.

The state’s positive cases and deaths have dropped considerably in response to a large percentage of Virginians getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The state reported 105 new cases on Friday, one of the lowest daily case counts since the start of the pandemic. As of Friday, more than 58 percent of adults in the state are fully vaccinated.

When the emergency order ends, a Virginia law that bans people from wearing face coverings in public will go back into effect.

But Northam’s chief of staff, Clark Mercer, said the governor will ask the legislature to amend the state’s ban on face coverings when lawmakers convene in a special session this summer.

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He told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the Northam administration has had informal conversations with law enforcement officials from across the state and is confident the state’s face covering law will not be enforced in the months after the state of emergency is lifted.

The law states:

"It shall be unlawful for any person over 16 years of age to, with the intent to conceal his identity, wear any mask, hood or other device whereby a substantial portion of the face is hidden or covered so as to conceal the identity of the wearer, to be or appear in any public place, or upon any private property in this Commonwealth without first having obtained from the owner or tenant thereof consent to do so in writing."

Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky told WTOP on Friday that the governor is encouraging people who want to wear masks, or who are not vaccinated, to do so after June 30.

WUSA reported Thursday that the Virginia anti-mask law includes a specific provision that should allow people to continue wearing masks for health reasons. The law states that people cannot wear a mask with the intent to conceal their identity.

But at political demonstrations, people often wear masks or other types of face coverings to conceal their identify for what they view as legitimate reasons: They are concerned the police could seek to question or arrest them over their presence at a gathering. Anti-mask laws also are viewed as an infringement on personal liberty.

In recent years, state governments also have applied anti-mask laws to protesters such as those affiliated with the Occupy Movement or Anonymous such as those wearing Guy Fawkes masks.

With regard to evictions, tenants who are facing evictions during the state of emergency could get their cases extended for 60 days if they can prove that they did not pay rent as a result of COVID-19. That protection will expire 90 days after the end of the emergency order on June 30.

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