Gov. Ralph Northam said at a press conference in Richmond Tuesday afternoon that while COVID-19 cases are trending down, the state will not move into phase 3 of reopening.
Tuesday morning, there were 52,917 confirmed cases and 2,414 probable cases in the state. There have been 1,570 deaths from the disease, with 18 new deaths reported since Monday.
“Our total case numbers have been tending downward,” Northam said. “The number of hospital beds occupied by COVID patients is trending down, as is the number of patients hospitalized with a positive or a pending COVID test.”
He said that as of June 12, the percent of tests that are positive has dropped to 7.4%.
“All of these numbers look positive, but I want to be clear about a couple of things,” Northam said. “We will not be moving into phase 3 this week. On Thursday, we will have more to say about what phase 3 would look like.”
He said he wants to take more time to study the numbers before the state moves into the next phase.
But while the state won’t move into the next phase, its health department will be able to provide more demographic information, Northam said.
“The department of health will be including information on cases among Latino, Asian American and Native American Virginians, as well as black Virginians,” Northam said. “This will help give our health department a better picture of how the virus is affecting our communities.”
More information will be available Thursday, he said, before reminding locals to continue social distancing, mask up and wash their hands frequently.
“We know that these things work,” Northam said.
source The Virginian-Pilot
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