May 25 – Friday Report On Northam’s Actions

May 25 – Friday Report On Northam’s Actions

Linda Farneth – Colonial Beach News

Northam Delays Opening Two More Localities

After the Accomack County Board of Supervisors and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney formally requested a delay for phase one of Forward Virginia, Governor Northam announced that he will grant their requests.

Both the City of Richmond and Accomack County requested these extensions, and will enter Phase One no earlier than midnight on Thursday, May 28.

“Forward Virginia” is Governor Northam’s plan to ‘safely and gradually’ ease restrictions on certain business operations.

Northam Prompts Feds To Test Inmates

Governor Northam is urging the Feds to implement additional screening and testing for COVID-19 in two federally-run detention centers in Virginia, the Farmville Detention Center and the Caroline County Detention Center, and offered state support to do so. Both detention centers are operated by the federal government, and the Commonwealth has limited authority to enter them.

In a letter to Virginia’s congressional delegation, Governor Northam wrote that testing everyone in the facilities, including detainees, staff, and contractors, will help protect the health of those living in the facilities, as well as the surrounding communities.

The Virginia Department of Health is supporting point prevalence surveys in other congregate settings, such as long-term care facilities and correctional facilities.

Richmond County Department of Emergency Services posted the following notice on their facebook page on May 14. “The Virginia National Guard will be in Richmond County assisting Haynesville Correctional Facility with testing on Monday, May 18th. You may see a large presence of military vehicles in the area. We do not want anyone to be alarmed by this. This unit is a specialized group who have been assisting the VADOC with testing of their prison systems.”

Financial Impacts of Covid-19 Shut Down

Governor Ralph Northam announced on May 14, that April revenue collections fell 26.2 percent, primarily due to the extension of individual and corporate income tax deadlines until June 1 to provide relief to Virginians amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“As anticipated, this is the first monthly revenue report to reflect the significant negative impacts of COVID-19 on the health of our Commonwealth’s finances,” said Governor Northam. Full Release