FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Health directors in northern Virginia say the region is not yet ready to lift stay-at-home orders and other restrictions that the rest of the state is preparing to implement.
In a memo released Sunday, the health directors say the region is not meeting important benchmarks, like reducing COVID-19 hospitalizations.
The region’s political leaders wrote a letter to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Sunday accompanying the memo. They ask Northam to allow northern Virginia to move at a slower pace in easing restrictions.
Northam has said he’d consider allowing northern Virginia to exempt itself from Phase 1 of reopening the economy, which is expected to launch on Friday.
RELATED: Northam releases guidelines for Phase 1 of reopening Virginia May 15