(RICHMOND, Va.) -- Governor Northam said in his media availability on coronavirus that the state has a way to go to get to the phase one of re-opening the economy according to the guidelines that were revealed by President Trump on Thursday.
The first thing that needs to happen is that Virginia needs to see a downward trend of new confirmed cases for 14 days in a row. Today, for example, according to numbers from the Virginia Department of Health, the number of cases rose from Thursday by over 600.
In addition, the governor says that the state needs to have adequate testing and the ability to track and isolate individuals while looking for trends with the virus and where the hotspots are. In regard to testing, Northam says that there is no national guidance for testing and it's something that governors around the country need to do on their own.
A couple of other things need to happen to get to phase one and that includes having enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and staffing for hospitals.
Northam stressed that he will continue to follow science and data to determine how to proceed.