As Northern Virginia enters into phase three of reopening, public health officials in DC and Mayland have expressed their concern. These elected officials are worried that if Virginia reopens to early, the Greater Washington area could experience a setback that would hinder the entire region’s ability to reopen at a later date.

The Washington Post spoke with some officials from the District of Columbia and Montgomery County who expressed concern about Northern Virginia moving into phase three of reopening. If the Northern Virginia area was to enter into phase three, indoor dining in restaurants without capacity restrictions would be allowed. However, these tables must continue to be properly distanced.

“It’s not the best public health measure to break the region apart in this manner,” one official stated. This official continued to discuss how they wanted DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia to reopen the region together. The reason behind this statement is that there is so much interstate travel.

What Areas are Opening and When

State and local officials throughout the Northern Virginia area chose to move into phase three on July 1 because of metrics that their staffs had been and will continue to track. These metrics include the number of cases and hospitalizations in the DMV area. From these metrics, Northern Virginia leaders stated that they felt justified moving into phase three. Furthermore, they were confident that there will not be a large spike in Covid-19 cases.

One official went as far to say “It would have been pretty difficult for us, based on the data, to suggest that we shouldn’t reopen”.

While most officials in Virginia were confident with their decision to move towards a reopening, entry into phase three did include one rollback to reopening. Restrictions will continue on the number of patrons that bars with indoor seating can house at one time. Though they were going to originally reopen at partial capacity as part of phase three.

D.C. and Prince George’s County have not offered an estimated timeline for their move into phase three. Montgomery County officials said that they would wait until at least a week after July 4 to consider it. For more information regarding Covid-19 in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, check out our blog.

DC, Maryland, and Virginia Coronavirus Count

• Number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia: 145,862 (77,469 in Greater Washington)
• Cases per state: 10,482 cases in the District (559 deaths), 69,632 cases in Maryland (3,243 deaths) and 65,748 cases in Virginia (1,853 deaths).
• In Northern Virginia, there are now 32,860 cases, and 34,127 in the suburban Maryland counties of Prince George’s and Montgomery.