Governor Ralph Northam has issued a mandatory "Stay at Home" order for all Virginians, effective immediately.
All Virginians are ordered to stay in their residences and should only leave home for essential food, groceries, supplies, work or medical care. It is also acceptable to go outside for exercise.
The guidelines for essential and non-essential businesses remain the same. Restaurants can continue to operate with take-out, drive-thru or delivery service only. Essential businesses must maintain 6-ft social distancing and sanitizing requirements. Non-essential retail stores are limited to no more than 10 customers at a time, while also adhering to the social distancing and sanitizing requirements.
Northam ordered all of Virginia's beaches to be closed except for fishing and individual exercise. All private campgrounds are ordered closed to overnight stays.
Anyone who arrives in Virginia from out-of-state, especially if they have come from a virus "hot spot," is urged to self-isolate for 14 days.
Northam says that half of all coronavirus cases in Virginia are in patients under age 50. He encourages all age groups to act responsibly to protect public health and to protect the lives of the state's health care workers and the capacity of the state's health care system.
Virginia hospitals have about 18,500 total beds with about 2,000 ICU beds. Hospitals are making plans to add to those numbers in anticipation of a surge of cases in the coming weeks.
The Governor says most Virginians are complying and are staying at home, and he says he is heartened seeing people helping their neighbors and making masks for health care workers.
Northam says federal funding has increased the state's household feeding program and that it is now available to anyone needing food assistance. Visit vafoodbanks.org for more information.
Anyone needing social services can dial 211. The Domestic Violence Hotline continues to operate at 1-800-838-8238.
More on this developing story from our media partner, ABC 13 -WSET.