Good morning, RVA! It’s 64 °F, and highs will creep back up to the near-90s today—still looks pretty nice out, though. Tomorrow, expect some rain and then you can look forward to a pretty lovely Sunday. Have a great weekend, y’all.
Water cooler
Well, I got pretty close on predicting the contents of the Governor’s press conference! Yesterday, Governor Northam announced that, beginning September 1st, “Virginia will require its state workers to show proof that they are fully vaccinated or be tested for COVID-19 every week.” So, while it’s not a vaccine requirement (despite the press release’s headline), it does mean employees who choose not to be vaccinated have to get their brains swabbed, every. single. week. Not that I needed incentive beyond staying alive, but avoiding the hassle of a weekly test is a pretty good one. You can read the Executive Directive describing the requirement here, but it’s light on the specifics, which should come out later this month.
The Governor also, I think, mandated masks in public K–12 schools? During this same press conference, Northam called out the recently passed SB 1303—which mandates that public schools meet in-person this fall. But he specifically mentioned this bit of the bill: “each school board shall…provide such in-person instruction in a manner in which it adheres, to the maximum extent practicable, to any currently applicable mitigation strategies for early childhood care and education programs and elementary and secondary schools to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 that have been provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Since the CDC now recommends universal masking in K–12 schools in areas seeing a lot of community transmission, the Governor says Virginia’s schools are on the hook to follow that recommendation: “It’s the law of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I expect our districts to follow the law.” This obviously applies locally, where Henrico County Public Schools made the decision to go entirely mask-optional the same day the CDC announced their new mask-wearing recommendations. In an extremely sick burn, Northam pointed out that SB 1303 was patroned by none other Henrico’s Republican senator! I have no idea why the Governor just didn’t come out and say masks are required in schools and why he chose this convoluted path forward that will inevitable raise a ton of questions. Regardless, the Governor’s announcement is a big deal, and I think most school districts will fall in line. Sabrina Moreno at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction said schools could face “significant legal pressure” if they don’t follow the mask-wearing guidance. This quote, also from the Superintendent, is wild: “Again, this is not a mandate from us. [School districts will] need to check with their legal counsel. They’ll need to talk with their insurance company whether they’ll even be insured if they don’t follow the CDC guidance.” This definitely feels like some shenanigans going on that I don’t really understand. But! Masks in schools! This is good!
