Virginia COVID-19 Briefing | May 13, 2020
You ready. Well good afternoon, and thanks to all of you for joining us today. Today i want to talk to you about, phase one. Both statewide. And also, in, northern virginia. And when the dmvs. May open. We'll be joined later today, by some local, officials, from, northern virginia, to talk about how we are working together, regarding. Phase one. In that region. First. In march. I closed, all of our dmvs. To, customer, service locations. As we work through the spread. Of this virus. Starting, monday. We will begin to allow a few. Dmv. Customer, service center, centers to open back up to the public. For a select, number, of services. We'll start with 11. Dmv. Centers. In seven, of eight regions. Northern virginia, centers, will not open. At this time. These open centers will focus, only. On services, that require, someone to come to dmv. In person. Things like, getting an original. Driver's, license. Or, original, vehicle, registration. Or title. Disabled. Parking, permits. And vital, records. These services, will be provided, by, appointment. Only. And customers. Will wait in their. Vehicles. Anyone, who can use dmv's. Online, services. Should continue. To do so. As we continue, to ramp up testing. We did. 8845. Tests. Yesterday. Which is closer, to our goal. We're doing more testing, at long-term. Care facilities. And around the state. Pharmacies. And, drug stores, are stepping, up to help with testing. Rite aid has been doing testing, in two sites. Performing, more than 1200. Swab, pcr. Tests, through. This past monday. I'm grateful, to these retailers, that are working with us to increase, our testing. And we'll continue, to see more of this. For example, in the coming days i think we'll hear some exciting. News, about walmart. And their testing, efforts. As we have said. Robust. Testing, is a critical, piece of our plan to slowly. Ease restrictions. In phase one. We are getting there, and that is one reason why i feel comfortable. In allowing, phase one to begin, this friday. For most, of our commonwealth. As we have discussed, in these briefings. Moving to phase one depends, on meeting a set of health metrics. And increasing, number of tests. A downward, trend, in the percent, of tests that come back positive. A downward, trend in the number of covet, patients. In our hospitals. The availability. Of hospital, bids. And the availability. Of ppe. As a commonwealth. These metrics, are trending. In the right direction. Phase one will not be like turning, on. A light switch. We will restrict, non-essential. Retail. And houses, of worship. To 50 percent. Of the building's, capacity. Gyms, and fitness centers, must remain closed. But will allow them to do, outdoor. Fitness, options. Until we get into phase two. Restaurants. Must remain, closed. But we will allow those with outdoor, seating, to use that at 50 percent. Capacity. We'll allow salons. And barber, shops. To operate, with strict requirements, for social, distancing. And face coverings. And we will follow the same, metrics. Which allowed us to get into, phase one, when we determine. Entering. Phase. Phases. Two. And three. We know that working parents, need a safe. And healthy, place. So they can return, to work. During phase one our child care centers, will continue. To prioritize. The children of all working, families. While abiding, by social distancing. And cleaning, requirements. The health and safety. Of children. Families, and staff, is a top priority. Employees, who need to find child care so they can return to work, can call. 866. Kids. Tlc. So i'll repeat that.
866. K-i-d-s. Tlc. But i want to emphasize. As we enter, phase one. We will still maintain, the ban on gatherings, of more than 10 people. We still urge, businesses. To keep their employees, teleworking. And we strongly, encourage, the use of face coverings. In public. Will require, face masks for some businesses. Such as restaurants. And salons. And require, essential, retail, businesses, to provide, masks. For their employees. More detailed, guidance, for phase one is available. On our website. Phase one. Represents. A small. Step, forward. But we will remain vigilant. We will continue, to monitor, health data closely. I again want to remind. All, virginians. This virus. Has not gone away, and everyone. Needs to act. Accordingly. Continue. To stay, six feet, from others. Wear face coverings. Not just to protect yourself. But to protect, other people. You will be safer. At home. Unless you need to go out. Moving forward, requires, us all to act, responsibly. We cannot, act as if things, are back to normal because. They are clearly, not. Phase one is a floor, not a ceiling. And i'm open to some regions, moving. More slowly. I have said that if specific. Regions. Are not meeting the health metrics. Our administration. Will work with them on delaying, implementation. Of phase one. That is what localities. In the northern virginia, region. Have done. Northern, virginia. Is our most populous, region, by far. And shares its economy, and its workforce, with dc. And maryland. Our health metrics, show that the majority. Of virginia's. Positive, cases. Are in the northern, virginia, region. And while that region's, percentage. Of positive, tests. Is trending. Downward. It still has a higher, percent of positive, cases. And of people hospitalized. With a positive. Or pending test. So i have delayed the implementation. Of phase, one. In northern virginia. For an additional. Two weeks. I thank the officials, in those localities, for the cooperation. In working with us on this. Today, we have some of them. Joining, us electronically. And i have invited, them to offer. Some words. So in the following, order. You will hear from, mayor, david tarter. Of falls church, he will be followed. By fairfax. County chair. Jeff mckay. Followed, by arlington. County, chair. Libby, garvey. Followed by loudoun. County chair phyllis, randall. Who will be followed by prince william, chair and wheeler. And then finally be followed by alexander. Mayor. Justin. Wilson, so, hopefully, our technology. Will. Be favorable, to us today, but, please welcome. David tarter who's the mayor, of the city of falls church, and also, chairman of the northern virginia. Regional, commission. Mayor, tarta. Thank you governor. As you just heard i'm david carter. Mayor of the city of falls. Chair of the northern virginia, regional, commission. The northern, virginia regional commission. The consortium. Of 13, local governments. The group, collectively, represents. It's about 2.5, million people. And about 40 percent of the state's. Since the start of the covet 19, pandemic. We've been meeting. Virtually, twice a week. Made our efforts. And our response. We've been sharing information. Best. Practices. Our public health directors. About the coronavirus. Data. And advised us on the best. Keep our citizens, safe. And we have come together as a. To provide a unified, response. To see our communities, through these, challenging, times. We thank governor northam, and members of his staff. Who have joined us on many of these calls.
We Appreciate your willingness to work with us, and recognize. Our unique circumstances. Based on the latest, information, from our health directors. The elected leaders of our region have spoken together. To request that, governor northam consider the northern virginia, virginia, data separately, for the rest of the state. The governor has done so with executive, order 62, which was issued yesterday. We thank governor northam for his willingness to listen. And act on our behalf. And for recognizing, that one size, does not fit all, when it comes to the complex, work of saving lives, and livelihood. I'm joined today by some of my colleagues from northern virginia. Who will each speak about the need for a responsible, reopening, process. That will. When the data supports, it, protect, our communities. And allow for a healthy. And strong recovery. I will pass this along to jeff mckay. Chair of the fairfax county board of supervisors. Mr mckay. Thank you very much, uh mayor tarter, and, thank the governor for including, us today. Most importantly. I want to thank the governor, for recognizing. That the d.c, metropolitan. Area. That includes the district, maryland, and virginia. Is one cohesive. Region. And, frankly, folks, from, all those jurisdictions. Cross jurisdictional. Boundaries. Every single day by the thousands. Making our region, very cohesive. But also. Making it important, for us, to consider. How we can coordinate. With the district, in maryland, to make sure that we're protecting. The safety of our entire, community. We have thousands, of people a day who use public, transit. And use our metro, system to go in between. Those jurisdictions. And it's important, that there not be huge variations. Uh in the rollout, of phases, as we move forward so that we don't. Unnecessarily. Confuse. Our business owners, confuse, our residents. And confuse. Our houses of worship, as we move forward, as we know. This virus, does not know, jurisdictional. Boundaries. And so we must remain, a coordinated. Metropolitan. Washington. As we move forward, to protect, our residents. The whole dmv, is united. In reopening. Our economy. We want to do it as quickly. And safely. As we possibly, can. And we thank you for recognizing. That our metrics, are not there, at this point, and that as a region. We have to make sure that we coordinate, with all of our partners, including. The mayor of the district of columbia. And the governor of maryland. Thank you again for that recognition, we look forward to working with you. Governor, as we move forward and with that. I am going to pass this to the arlington, county board chair. Libby garvey. Thank you so much, chair mckay. And thank you governor for having us here i'm actually i think going to emphasize. Your remarks, and i'm really pleased to be able to do this, northern virginia. Represents, nearly one-third of the population, of virginia, but, half, of the commonwealth's, cases, hospitalizations. And deaths. The most, responsible. Path forward for us. Is to maintain, our current, operating, status, until, the phase one criteria. Laid out by the governor. Are met for northern virginia, and so. Over the next two weeks. We will continue, to focus, on those metrics. Criteria. Across, our region, and these include. A downward, trend, of positive, test results. And hospitalizations. Over a period of 14, days. Sufficient. Hospital, beds and intensive, care capacity. And increasing. And sustainable. Supply, of personal, protective, equipment, such as mass. Respirators. Gloves and gowns. And. Increased. Testing, and tracing. Analysis, by our region's, public health directors. Shows that all five, metrics, are either unmet, for northern virginia, or. Cannot be determined, based on currently, available. Data. So we thank the governor for his leadership. In setting the criteria, and letting the data. Not the date, determine, our status. And we will continue, to monitor. Our data, as we move forward. I now will turn it over to, loudoun, county chair. Phyllis randall. Thank you chair garvey, and thank you to the governor. So in northern virginia, we are looking forward to when we we can safely, move to phase one, as determined, by our health directors. We are not expecting, different rules. Just a timeline, that makes sense for the data. Our health directors, are seeing. Because northern virginia, is so interconnected.
We Are taking a regional, approach. Rather than moving to phase one, locality. By. Locality. The governor's new executive, order, number 62. Extends. Phase zero, into may 29th. There is, nothing. I want more, than to be able to enter phase one at that time. We will all continue, to talk with the governor's, team. And our health director. To monitor, those metrics closely. Unfortunately. For now, phase zero restrictions, on gatherings, and businesses. Remains, in place for our area. Everyone. Please stay home. Except, for except for essential, trips, like purchasing, food. And obtaining, medical, care. Gatherings, of 10 people or more are still not allowed. Including, places of worship. Please continue to support, locally owned restaurants, with curio, carry out and delivery. And businesses, like theaters, and gyms. Are not yet open. Lastly, i want to say to my county. Loudon, i realize, how much our small businesses, are suffering. It is not, lost, on me. We will move to phase one, the moment, our health directors, determine. We can do so safely. Thank you so much and i'm going to pass it to my friend. The chair of prince william county. And wheeler. Thank you chair randall, and thank you governor, northam, for, having us today. The question is how do we get to phase one as expediently. As possible. Really it's going to be by people listening. It all has to do with personal, responsibility. This means staying at home except for essential trips. It goes without saying if you're sick, stay at home. Use strict, physical distancing. Of at least six feet when you're, around people outside, your own household. Wear a cloth face covering when in community, areas, including, when inside, businesses. And don't forget the basics. Wash your hands frequently. Clean and disinfect, surfaces. And cover coffee. These practices, worked they've been slowing, cases, the rate of new cases, in virginia. Residents, in every northern virginia. Locality, must follow the same rules. If we do not it will have major implications. Across our region. Again, we need to continue, our efforts so we see a declining, number of cases. In the northern virginia, region over a 14-day. Period. Entering, phase one will take personal, responsibility. Let's do this together.
With That i will pass it along to alexandria. Mayor justin wilson, to finish us out. Thank you very much chair wheeler and thank you to the governor. We want to thank all of our residents, in the region, for taking personal, responsibility. To help each other make it through this shared crisis. We are especially, grateful, to our essential, workers, our first responders. Our health care workers. And all of our city, county, and town municipal, staff. These folks are on the front lines every day to help keep us safe and keep our economy, moving. We also want to make sure that everyone who is checking on a neighbor staying in touch with family and friends and just spreading, hope and cheer. It's good to have a buddy you can help to ask for help. And taking care of our own mental health and the mental health of others is equally an important part of the response, to this crisis. We all to echo my colleagues we all want to reopen, the economy as quickly as we can, but we need to do that as safely, as we can. Public health and the economy, go hand in hand and the foundation, of a strong economy, is public health. We appreciate, throughout this crisis the governor's data-driven, approach. And we will stay focused on the data, as we look forward to reopening. I want to thank governor northam, his staff the administration. All of my colleagues, on this, call and throughout, the throughout northern virginia. And all of our residents, and businesses for their sacrifice, during this time, and so with that i'm going to turn it back over to you the governor, thank you. Great justin and thanks to all of you for your amazing, leadership, during just a very difficult, time. During this pandemic. I think one of the things that you just heard. Um, and i i will reiterate, it is that we're we're really emphasizing. And focus on on data. Rather than dates, and and that really, you know something that we'll we'll continue to do moving forward i, i also want to take this opportunity, and as i've told you we are in, uh. Frequent, communication. Uh with our, governor. From, maryland governor hogan. And mayor of washington d.c mayor bowser, and uh just uh, collectively. This group of leaders. Up in northern virginia, and the the greater, washington, area is just, it's just very commendable, so i i thank you all and i respect, all that you all are doing. I, again appreciate. Your leadership, and your cooperation, we all. Share, the same priorities. To ensure that public health. Is our top priority, as we move forward.
We Also continue. To work to support. Our local governments. Earlier this week. We announced. We will send. 650. Million dollars. In federal financial, aid through the cares, act, to our local governments to help them pay for the cost of responding. To this pandemic. And i'll repeat that, 650. Million dollars. We have additional. Federal dollars. And one of our priorities, for that money will be paying for the increased, testing. And contact, tracing. That we will need. Moving forward. Our department, of health is working to hire, many more. Contact. Tracers. For each health region. They'll be working, in communities. And through, our call centers. Vdh. Has worked with several, staffing. Companies. To help speed this process. And has received, more than, 3, 000. Resumes. Virginia, health commissioner, dr norm oliver. Will speak more about our work to build the contact tracing, workforce, as well as today's. Health data. Before that though, i just want to. Remind, everybody. In virginia. That this is national, skilled, nursing week. As you know. Our. Long-term, nursing facilities. Care facilities, our nursing homes have, have been very vulnerable. During this pandemic, and i i just. Want all of you to, recognize. The the work that's being done. By these, staff members and and again to to thank them for all their, uh their hard work and together, we will, get through this pandemic, so, dr oliver i welcome you thank you. Good afternoon. I'll start with the statistics. On, where we stand in the, pandemic, today. We now have a total number of cases, of. 26746. That's an increase, of, 946. Cases, in the last. Reporting, period. The total deaths, stand at, 927. Which is an increase, of 36.. Total tests, are 180. 084. And as the governor, mentioned, that was. Includes, the 8. 845. Tests, in the last 24-hour. Period. The number of african-american. Cases, that we have is. 4337. Which is about. 23. Percent. Of the. Cases, for which we have demographic. Information. On race and ethnicity. The, latinx. Cases. Number. 7711. Which is, 43. Of that same. Denominator. Of uh. Cases, with, race, and ethnicity. In terms of deaths. Uh african-american. Deaths, are at, 201. Which is 25, percent of the deaths. And the latinx, deaths, are at 73. Which is about 10 percent. As the governor mentioned. As we move into, phase, one, it will be critical, for us to. Continue, to contain. The spread of this disease, through. Testing. And ramping that up, identifying. Cases, as they present. Isolating. Those cases from other people. And contacting. The folks who have come into. Contact, with that case and. Possibly, have been exposed, to the disease. As the governor mentioned we are processing. Currently about 3 000. Applications. We will be hiring supervisors. In regional, areas, for, this new uh, additional. Workforce, of contact. Tracers, who will augment, the, some 604. Contact tracers, that we currently. Have in place we, plan to step up. That workforce, to. Near. 300. People across, the commonwealth. As i mentioned, previously, what this represents. Is about. Having 15, contact. Traces, for every 100, 000 people. In the population. This is a number that we got from the. Researchers. At harvard university, who published, the road map to, ending, the corona. Virus, epidemic. In which they said that you needed a minimum, of at least that amount, somewhere between 15, to 30. Contact, tracers, per 100, 000.. We will, start at that 15. Per 100, 000. And ramp up from there. As needed. Thank you. We'll be glad to take your questions. Yeah, about contact, tracing. I was hoping to clarify, what will happen, when you identify, the context. Of the cases, that we're picking up through testing. You know when these tracers, find a contact, of a positive, case, will those people then be able to be tested, will they be required to be isolated. What happens, yeah so the question is how does the contact, tracing, process. Move forward. Would you like to help me address it thank you. And dr frollano, may correct me if i missed something. When we identify. Someone who's a contact, that's someone who may have been exposed, to the disease. We first of all want to find out whether or not they're feeling well. What their symptoms, are and so on. If it appears, through that. Conversation. That they're actually symptomatic. And. Need testing, to, find out whether or not they have, covet 19, then we would arrange for that testing, to occur. And. If they are a primary, contact. With, significant, exposure. To, the index, case. Then we would.
Ask Them to self-quarantine. And then, follow up with them through that 14-day. Period to, ensure that they. Don't, develop, symptoms, and need care. For primary, contact. What i mean by primary, contact, is. If i'm a case, and you and i have been standing within six feet of each other talking and so on for, longer than 10 minutes. You would be, a contact who like we'd. Want to. Self-quarantine. But if you then spent time with, henry. Henry, that secondary, person wouldn't be someone that we would. Isolate. The first question on the phone will be from alan suterman, at the associated, press. Hi good afternoon. Um good afternoon, lighthouse on monday recommended. That. States. Start testing, or make sure they test every nursing home resident, and staff. In the next two weeks, is that something that's. That virginia, is able to do. How many nursing home residents is that is that a doable, target. And then one other question, on the, phase one, is, i just want to clarify, it's just northern virginia. That, that is being delayed. If any other locality. Between now and friday, asked to delay is that a possibility. Like the eastern shore or the city of richmond. Alan i'm going to be nice and answer. Both of your questions, today, but i, appreciate. Them. To, to date, we have only had one. Locality, one region. That has requested, through their leadership, as you just saw. To delay, entering. Phase one. If there are other. Regions in virginia. That have concerns, that have been following their metrics, that feel that. They aren't ready to enter phase one i haven't heard from them, personally. And i would encourage them to go through the same process. That the folks in northern virginia, did but to date, the only region that we've heard from. Is. Northern virginia. The first question, that, mr suderman. Asked was our, our nursing homes, and. And our goals, on, testing. Not only the residents, but the staff, at the nursing homes and. And, just an estimate, we have about. 260. Long-term. Care facilities. In virginia. And we are committed. To. Testing. All of those, facilities. Alan your question. Part of your question was will that be done in the next two weeks. That perhaps, is a bit of an ambitious. Goal. But we're going to test these, facilities, just as quickly as we can. As you have heard me speak, before, we have the, national, guard that's helping us. The nursing, homes, also, have the ability, to contract, through. Private. Testing. Facilities, such as quest, and labcorp. And as you know we have. Relief funds that have come into virginia. From the cares act. And we are working with our secretary of finance, secretary, lane. To make sure that we have the available. Resources, that we can help nursing homes. Do that testing, so. So the the approach. Is going to be in all hands, on deck. For our nursing homes. And, our goal is to be able to test all of them. And i think another thing that people need to realize, is that. If we're. Able to test all of these. In let's say the next two or three weeks or however long that takes. There may be, reasons that we need to go back and test the facility, again, so. This is going to be an ongoing, process. And. The more, staffing. The more ppe. The more testing. Capabilities. We have. The better able we'll be able to do that but we have you've heard me talk about this before. The nursing homes the long-term, care facilities, are some of our most vulnerable. Population. And we are doing everything, that we can. To keep. The residents, of these facilities, and also the staff of these facilities. Healthy. And so experts have said a surge of cases is inevitable. Following even a partial reopening, so does your administration, have any specific, modeling. On how these policy decisions could impact, hospitalizations. And new cases in the state, the question is, is as we. Ease the restrictions, and enter phase one, there is the potential. To have increased, cases, and, jackie. The answer to your question is yes we do. And we're in a position, to interphase, one, because. We have the hospital, capacity, because we have ppe. Because we have the taste testing capabilities. And so, all of these uh, these uh parameters, will continue, to be followed and, and you know even. We talk about. If there are, more cases, in the next few weeks we're ready for that, the other thing quite realistically. That we have to think about, what about this fall and winter.
Assuming, There's no, vaccination. There's no. Cure if you will for this, we've got to be ready for that and so. We're not only preparing, for tomorrow. We're preparing, for months and years, uh, down the road and and i think you know speaking, on behalf of not only virginia, but this country. We were caught flat-footed. By this pandemic, we weren't ready we didn't have the testing capability, we didn't have the ppe. And we've learned a significant, lesson, i know we have here in virginia, and, and so we'll be ready if there are increased cases. This month if they're increased. Cases this fall or next year. We're planning ahead for that. Hospitalization. Do you know that off the top of your head like on, what that modeling shows we could have x amount more hospitalization. Well i think the question is, about our hospitalization. Capacity, and and i think you've seen and i could go back and, show you the graph again, uh we have capacity, up to a certain amount and then we have a surge capacity. Um that's, available. But, i want to. Kind of follow up on your question a little bit you're asking a lot of questions that we don't have answers for. And i will, i will. Remind, virginians. That this is a. Novel, virus. We're learning, every day how it affects, human beings we're learning every day how it affects children. I mean a month ago. We didn't see this this kawasaki. Syndrome this. Inflammatory. Vasculitis. Process, and so. Um, so for me to sit here and say, exactly, what we'll need next month or, or a year from now it's it's pretty difficult, to say. Exact, numbers but i will tell you that we're preparing, for the future, and we'll be. Ready. Thank you governor. At state prisons where outbreaks, have occurred, have the staffing, levels been reduced, to protect employees, from the virus. And if so, what percentage, is the staffing level currently at. If you could repeat your question i might have, secretary moran come up here but there were a couple words in your question that we couldn't hear if you could just. Repeat your question, thank. You. Sure. At state prisons, where outbreaks, have occurred. Have the staffing, levels been reduced, to protect employees, from the virus, and if so. What percentage, is the staffing level currently. At. Thank you governor. Having to do with the, outbreaks, at our state prisons and the staffing levels to, to accommodate, the security. Of those prisons. Uh we have not, uh experienced. A significant, staffing, shortage. A, great commitment, on a on part of our correctional, officers. Also we're taking steps to separate, where there is an outbreak in a particular unit. Doc, takes extraordinary, steps to make sure that that unit, is separated, from others. Protections. For our correctional, officers, in terms of their, doc, mass and other. Another. Hygiene, that is provided, so. And i do again want to thank. The effort. With respect, to testing. At our correctional, office, correctional. Facilities. This week we did dilwyn. Thanks to the guard and, dr florino's, group and vdh, and and others to make sure that. We can do point prevalence testing at our correctional, facility so we know. How many individuals. Are indeed, infected. As we know, you can be asymptomatic. With that, knowledge. Doc. Can take steps to make sure we separate, quarantine. And take all the appropriate, cdc, recommended, guidelines, and actions, to ensure the safety. And health of those in our custody. For those who. Applaud, you, and say thank you for. Placing. Help, over well, they. Are excited about your decisions, to keep, virginians, safe. On the other hand some say that you've ruined the economy, you've hurt. People's livelihoods. And their lives how do you. Talk about the painstaking. Uh decisions, and work that your, administration. Put forward. In dealing with those two dynamics, and then on sidebar. When it comes to some of these restrictions. With a lot of our law enforcement, entities, already being.
Understaffed. And taxed. Is it too much for them to maybe, go to restaurants. And make sure people are following. Procedures. Go to churches. Go to barber, shops and beauty salons. Great questions, and the second one let me just, answer the second one first if i could and that's, uh will we be able to enforce. The guidelines, that we have in place and and the answer that is uh, yes we will. Um again we will ask, for the cooperation. Of virginians, and i think for the most part, uh we have received, that but uh if there are some individuals, that don't want to. Abide by our rules. We will give not only the the agencies, such as the department, of health or the, abc. Or law enforcement, the uh, the ability, to go in and enforce, the guidelines, so, again, you've heard me talk. A lot i, i'm a, carrot person rather than a stick. But we will have a stick if we need to use it but uh we will continue, to encourage, virginians, that they're all part of this. Uh solution, and and uh moving, towards, phase two and and phase three i the first part of andre's, question was. Uh the decisions. Uh. That we make, regarding. The health crisis, uh and the economic, crisis and i think that's a really fair. Question, and we realize. That we are in the middle of a health crisis. We are also, in the middle of an economic, crisis. You've heard me talk about this, in the past. Until. We can get the health crisis, behind, us, the economy. Will never recover, so. My emphasis, our, administration's. Emphasis, and i think really virginia's. Emphasis, has been on the safety and well-being, of virginians, and so, we'll continue. To emphasize, that, that will be our our focus. But we also realize that the economy, plays a part people have lost their jobs people are making tremendous, sacrifices. And, and so we will all continue, to work together. To put this health crisis, behind us to get it under as best control. As we can. And that will allow us to move forward with economic, recovery. Andre i know you've, heard me say this before but. We live in the best state. In the best country. In the world and, and going, into covet 19. We were number one in the country, as far as, our business. Environment. Our unemployment, rate, if we remember, back was. 2.6. It was one of the lowest we'd had in in many years. The amount of capital, investment. In the last two years that that had come into virginia, was record-breaking. Uh at close to 30 billion, with a b dollars, and so. We were strong. Prior to covet 19 and if we continue. To work together. As a commonwealth. We'll come out of this. As strong so that that's my goal. And that's what i'm committed to doing as governor we will. We'll look forward to seeing you on friday and this is just planning, for all of you and i know planning is important. And unless i hear. Differently. We have, memorial, weekend. Coming up which starts on the 22nd. Memorial, day being on the 25th. And after that time. Because memorial, day is on a monday. We will have these press conferences, on tuesdays, and thursdays, so we'll go from three a week, to two a week. You all don't have to stand up and applaud, applaud, all at one time. But anyway that's the plan as we move forward but. It's, very important to me. And, hopefully to you. That we continue, to provide you updated, and accurate information. And so if we need to have other press conference, or if we need to release more information. To the press. On days, other than when we're having our press conferences, we will surely, work with you and do that so, we look forward to seeing you all on. Friday, thank you all so. Much. You.
2020-05-25 06:25
