The following rules take effect at midnight on Sunday, Nov. 15:
- Public and private gatherings – indoors and outdoors – must be limited to 25 individuals, down from the current cap of 250.
- All Virginians aged 5 and over are required to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces.
This expands the current mask mandate, which requires all individuals age 10 and over to wear face coverings in indoor public settings.
- Strengthened enforcement will be implemented for retail businesses. All essential retail businesses, including grocery stores and pharmacies, must adhere to statewide guidelines for physical distancing, face coverings, and enhanced cleaning.
While certain essential retail businesses have been required to adhere to these regulations as a best practice, violations will now be enforceable through the Virginia Department of Health as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
- A strengthened curfew will be implemented for on-site alcohol.
The on-site sale, consumption, and possession of alcohol is prohibited after 10 p.m. in any restaurant, dining establishment, food court, brewery, microbrewery, distillery, winery, and tasting room, and all these establishments must close by midnight.
Virginia law does not distinguish between restaurants and bars, however. Under current restrictions, individuals that choose to consume alcohol before 10 p.m. must be served, as in a restaurant, and must remain seated at tables six feet apart.
Related story: COVID cases trending upwards in Fairfax County
Virginia is averaging 1,500 newly reported COVID-19 cases per day, up from a statewide peak of approximately 1,200 in May.
While Southwest Virginia has experienced a spike in the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases, all five of the commonwealth’s health regions are reporting a positivity rate of over 5 percent. Hospitalizations have increased statewide by more than 35 percent in the last four weeks.
“COVID-19 is surging across the country, and while cases are not rising in Virginia as rapidly as in some other states, I do not intend to wait until they are. We are acting now to prevent this health crisis from getting worse,” Northam said.
“Everyone is tired of this pandemic and restrictions on our lives,” he said. “But as we saw earlier this year, these mitigation measures work. I am confident that we can come together as one Commonwealth to get this virus under control and save lives.”