Thread about @GovernorVA 's Shutdown of Virginia for 77 days.
Today VA’s Governor Northam expanded the scope of his previous COVID-19 orders, disastrously extending the stay-at-home rule to June 10, a full 77 days from his initial closing of non-essential businesses. 1/n
Today VA’s Governor Northam expanded the scope of his previous COVID-19 orders, disastrously extending the stay-at-home rule to June 10, a full 77 days from his initial closing of non-essential businesses. 1/n
Dire consequences for Virginia families and businesses will ensue, but the Governor did not tell us about that, or about his plan for mitigating the coming disaster. He just chided us for going outside. 2/n
We all understand the dire consequences of COVID-19, but the point was to flatten the curve, not send the state into a tailspin that will take years to repair. 3/n
No explanation of how he arrived at 70 days. There are no projected hospital bed shortages in VA. With a max COVID incubation period of 14 days, how did they arrive at 70 days? Why June 10? Why not the 5th or the 15th? No explanation, no graphs, no science, no plan. 4/n
Northam's a pediatrician. His admonishments were delivered with calm bedside manner. Showed no understanding for the hardship he's about to unleash on his citizens. No guidance, programs, or even acknowledgement on his website that this will be devasting. No mitigation plan. 5/n
No “we understand this will be hard for working families” in his speech. Just admonishment that there were too many people at Virginia Beach yesterday. Instead of shutting down beaches, he shut down a $492,000,000,000 economy, 12th largest in the country. 6/n
I truly think he doesn't have a clue as to what he's just done. Our society and economy is not built to handle a shutdown of this length. Businesses will be forced to close permanently. Jobs will evaporate. Hope for a short shutdown and quick recovery are dashed. 7/n
His prior order eliminated the rest of the school year, two months before its scheduled end. With a stroke of his pen, he sentenced working families with school age children to a full semester without anyplace to put their kids while they work, assuming they still have jobs. 8/n
Think essential workers that have no place for their kids. If there are two working parents, now there will only be one, because he closed the schools and has no plan to keep childcare facilities open. 9/n
June 5 we have to pay property taxes. Is the government going to forgo their share of the economy? What about the hole he is blowing in the state budget when sales and other taxes are slashed by the reduced economic activity? 10/n
Example of how little thought he’s put into his prescriptions, he previously ordered hair salons to close unless they could provide social distancing. How do you cut hair from six feet away? Is the entire state now supposed to go 77 days without a haircut? 11/n
Our attorney told me today that a pending legal matter is on hold because the courts are only taking emergency cases. He discussed the difficult position our law enforcement officers are in and that they will likely only be able to act on the most egregious offenses. 12/n
People are going to be released from custody because their right to a speedy trial cannot be fulfilled. Isn’t our legal system essential? Why are they shutting it down? So we can't object to these orders in court? 13/n
Speaking of legal, the Virginia Bill of Rights guarantees freedom, indepedence, life, liberty etc. Aren't those rights being trampled? 14/n
So summary of his speech: stay home unless you are an essential worker, but if you are non-essential you can still work/shop at non essential businesses as long as there are less than 10 people there, at least 6 feet apart but you really should stay home unless you...15/n
need exercise and then you shouldn't go to the beach unless you are fishing or exercising, but don't go to campgrounds because they are closing those because of all those bad people that went to the beach Sunday. Clear as mud. 16/19
Finally, our press was oblivious to the magnitude of what he was ordering. No questions about what this will do to the economy or working families. No questions about how his administration is planning to deal with that fallout. Truly clueless. 17/19
Please get the word out to anyone that will listen. This order has to be reversed! If you are a reporter, ask the hard questions. State legislator? Fight for your constituents and their livelihoods. 18/19
People will die from COVID. No way around that. But the long term economic suffering that will ensue from radical lengthy shut downs will be far worse. /end/
