Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said that the state will not be moving toward further reopening efforts until he has had more time to study the numbers aligned with its Phase 3 revival strategy.
Northam, who noted that while COVID-19 cases are trending down, said there were 52,917 confirmed cases and 2,414 probable cases in the state. There have been 1,570 deaths from the virus, with 18 new deaths reported since Monday.
“Our total case numbers have been trending downward,” Northam announced at a Tuesday press conference. “The number of hospital beds occupied by COVID patients is trending down, as is the number of patients hospitalized with a positive or a pending COVID test.”
Northam added that as of June 12, the percent of tests that are positive has dropped to 7.4 percent.
“All of these numbers look positive, but I want to be clear about a couple of things,” Northam said. “We will not be moving into phase 3 this week. On Thursday, we will have more to say about what phase 3 would look like.”