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Governor Northam Increases Capacity Limits for Outdoor Sports and Entertainment Venues as COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Infection Rates Continue to Fall, Vaccinations Rise

2 24 2021 public health guidelines

Virginia Office of the Governor issued the following announcement on Feb. 24.

Governor Ralph Northam today announced that as COVID-19  hospitalizations and infection rates continue to decline and  vaccinations rise in Virginia, certain outdoor sports and entertainment  venues may begin to operate at increased capacity starting Monday, March  1. He amended Executive Order Seventy-Two with the next steps of the  “Forward Virginia” plan to safely and gradually ease public health  restrictions while mitigating the spread of the virus.

“Thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of all Virginians,  hospitalization and positivity rates across the Commonwealth are the  lowest they have been in nearly three months,” said Governor Northam.  “As key health metrics show encouraging trends and we continue to ramp  up our vaccination efforts, we can begin to gradually resume certain  recreational activities and further reopen sectors of our economy. Even  as we take steps to safely ease public health guidelines, we must all  remain vigilant so we can maintain our progress—the more we stay home,  mask up, and practice social distancing, the more lives we will save  from this dangerous virus.”

The Commonwealth will maintain a Safer at Home strategy with  continued strict health and safety protocols including physical  distancing, mask-wearing requirements, gathering limits, and business  capacity restrictions. The current modified Stay at Home order will  expire on February 28, 2021.

Governor Northam is beginning to ease public health restrictions by  taking steps to increase capacity limits in outdoor settings, where  evidence shows the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19 is lower.  The key changes in the Third Amended Executive Order Seventy-Two  include:

  • Social gatherings: The maximum number of  individuals permitted in a social gathering will increase from 10 to 25  people for outdoor settings, while remaining at 10 persons for indoor  settings.
  • Entertainment venues: Outdoor entertainment and  public amusement venues will be able to operate with up to 1,000  individuals or at 30 percent capacity, whichever is lower. If current  trends continue, these venues may be able to operate at 30 percent  capacity with no cap on the number of people permitted to attend  starting in April. Indoor entertainment and public amusement venues must  continue to operate at 30 percent capacity with a cap of 250 people.  All entertainment venues were previously limited to a maximum of 250  individuals.
  • Dining establishments: The on-site sale,  consumption, and possession of alcohol will be permitted until midnight,  extended from 10:00 p.m. All restaurants, dining establishments, food  courts, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, and tasting  rooms still must be closed between midnight and 5:00 a.m. 
  • Overnight summer camps: As of May 1, overnight summer camps will be able to open with strict mitigation measures in place. Registration can begin now.
The new guidelines will be effective for at least one month and  mitigation measures may be eased further if key health metrics continue  to improve. Current guidelines for retail businesses, fitness and  exercise, large amusement venues, and personal grooming services will  remain in place. Individuals are strongly encouraged to continue  teleworking if possible.

The full text of Third Amended Executive Order Seventy-Two and Order of Public Health Emergency Nine is available here. Updated guidelines for specific sectors can be found here.

Last week, Governor Northam amended Executive Order Seventy-Two to increase the number of spectators permitted at outdoor youth sporting events to 250. 

Visit virginia.gov/coronavirus/forwardvirginia for more information and answers to frequently asked questions.

Original source can be found here.

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