Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Monday that coronavirus cases will likely peak in late April or early May in his state, adding that a new pandemic model shows that social distancing is working and Virginia hospitals will be able to handle the surge in patients.
“This model also demonstrates that if we lift the stay at home order or social distancing too soon, if we try to rush to get our lives back to normal, the number of cases will spike higher and earlier, and we can’t afford that,” Mr. Northam said during a press conference.
Researchers at the University of Virginia developed the model to focus on the commonwealth.
Mr. Northam, a Democrat, said he plans to extend beyond April 23 his order for the closure of nonessential businesses and will announce a specific date for that on Wednesday.
He said the model shows that closing schools to the end of the year was a good call, and he announced measures to improve distance learning, including expanded access to the online education platform called Virtual Virginia and four public media stations will broadcast school lessons.
• Sophie Kaplan can be reached at skaplan@washingtontimes.com.
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