Northam Administration Ranks Among Lowest in Country for Testing
Richmond, VA – Yesterday, Governor Ralph Northam told Virginians that he needed to see two weeks of steady decline of new cases of COVID-19 to begin the process of reopening Virginia. To accomplish that, Virginia needs to ramp up its testing for the disease.
“The lack of testing capacity will have severe real-time impact on Virginia’s economy. Governor Ralph Northam said in his Friday news conference that more widespread testing is needed before Virginia can relax its social-distancing restrictions.” – COVID19 Testing: Tennessee Versus Virginia
Interestingly, Virginia has consistently remained near the bottom of the nation in terms of tests performed. As of April 13, the Commonwealth ranked 5th worst in tests per 1,000 people. Virginia has taken just over 56,000 tests, far behind its neighbors to the south (NC ~ 79,000), west (TN ~ 100,000), and north (MD ~ 71,000).
“If Governor Northam is interested in reopening Virginia, he should follow President Trump’s lead and get his act together,” said RPV Chairman Jack Wilson. “There is no reason for Virginia not to be a leader in this fight. Republican governors are getting the job done, it’s a shame Northam can’t.”
