The Virginia State Republican Senate delegation released a statement on Monday telling Governor Ralph Northam to lift the remaining COVID-19 regulations throughout the state.
The statement from the Virginia Republicans follow their calls issued on Friday for Northam to remove the state-wide mask mandate. Northam lifted the mask mandate shortly after the statement on Friday to fall in accordance with new CDC guidelines.
“We were pleasantly surprised when Governor Northam heeded, in part, our call Friday morning to lift his mask mandate. Any relaxing of his edicts is a positive development, especially one that would restore the right of individual Virginians to make their own determinations regarding COVID-related precautions,” the statement began.
Northam has issued strong restrictions throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, including limiting business activity across the state. According to a survey from Wallethub last month, Virginia ranked among the states with the most COVID-19 restrictions.
The statement continued, “Restoring our economy after this pandemic is not going to be easy. Virginia cannot afford to fall behind our bordering neighbors, and other states to our south and west, by being late in lifting our COVID restrictions. To hasten our recovery, and to restore the hospitality sector of our state’s economy as we enter the summer tourist season, we need to be among the nation’s first, not last, states to end its COVID restrictions.”
Many states throughout the country have lifted their coronavirus restrictions completely in response to the CDC guidelines and the continuation of the massive vaccination campaign. Further, most states that have lifted restrictions have not witnessed an increase in COVID-19 cases.
The statement also highlights that the majority of Virginians have received at least one does and 37 percent are fully vaccinated. However, Northam has remained persistent in leaving regulations in place.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gov. Ralph Northam” by Virginia Public Affairs CC 2.0.
