VA Gov. Northam announces universal mask mandate for K-12 schools

[Jilly_in_VA]

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday he will require universal masking in all Virginia K-12 schools.

A portion of his press release is as follows:

“Governor Northam today announced a Public Health Emergency Order requiring universal masking in all indoor settings in Virginia’s K-12 schools. This order reinforces current state law, which requires Virginia schools adhere to mitigation strategies outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of July 28, CDC guidelines include universal masking for all students, teachers, and staff. SB 1303 was passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of the General Assembly earlier this year.

“We all share the same goal of keeping our schools open and keeping our students safe,” said Governor Northam. “That’s why the General Assembly passed this law with overwhelming bipartisan support. This Public Health Order makes it very clear that masks are required in all indoor K-12 settings, and Virginia expects all schools to comply. I’m grateful to the work of the General Assembly and the Health Department, and I look forward to a safe start to the school year.”

73 percent of all adults in Virginia have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. As of August 10, 40.3 percent of 12-15 year-olds in Virginia and 51.7 percent of 16-17 year olds in Virginia are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Children under 12 are not yet eligible to receive any available vaccination, which is one reason CDC updated its guidance to recommend universal masking in all K-12 schools. Masks are a proven tool to reduce in-school transmission, even in communities with high levels of spread.”

https://www.whsv.com/2021/08/12/gov-northam-announces-universal-mask-mandate-k-12-schools/
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Thank goodness we have a governor with some sense and an MD degree!

[madaboutharry]

1. Democrats are the ones who honor life and well-being.

Republicans are the party of hate and death.

There is no arguing about that.

[Botany]

2. Very impressive resume ... from wiki

Early life, family history, and education

Northam was born in the town of Nassawadox on Virginia's Eastern Shore on September 13, 1959.[3][4] He and his older brother of two years, Thomas, were raised on a water-side farm, just outside Onancock, Virginia.[5] The family grew a variety of crops and tended livestock on their seventy-five-acre (30 ha) property.[6] As a teenager, Northam worked on a ferry to Tangier Island and as a deckhand on fishing charters; he also worked on a neighbor's farm and as a "stock boy" at Meatland grocery store.[5][7][8] He and Thomas attended desegregated public schools.[5][9] Northam graduated from Onancock High School, where his class was predominately African American.[10]

Northam's mother, Nancy B. Shearer, was originally from Washington, D.C. She was a part-time nurse at Northampton-Accomack Memorial Hospital, and her father was a surgeon.[7][11][12] Nancy Shearer died in 2009.[7] Northam's father, Wescott B. Northam, served as a lawyer and is a veteran of World War II; he entered politics in the 1960s, serving three terms as Commonwealth's Attorney for Accomack County, Virginia. After losing election to a fourth term, Wescott Northam was appointed as a Circuit Court judge for Accomack and Northampton counties.[5][7][11][12] Wescott Northam's own father, Thomas Long Northam, had served as a judge in the same court.[7]

Thomas Long Northam died when Wescott Northam was only fourteen, and a few years later, the family farm in Modest Town, Virginia, where Wescott had been born, was sold.[5][9] The farm had first come into the family through Ralph Northam's great-great-grandfather, James, who along with his son, Levi Jacob, had owned slaves – one of whom, Raymond Northam, was freed to enlist in the 9th Regiment of Colored Troops (Union Army, Civil War). Ralph Northam was unaware of his family's slave-owning history until his father conducted research into their ancestry during the time of Northam's gubernatorial campaign. Upon learning about this part of his family's history, Northam said, "The news that my ancestors owned slaves disturbs and saddens me, but the topic of slavery has always bothered me. My family's complicated story is similar to Virginia's complex history. We're a progressive state, but we once had the largest number of slaves in the union."[9]

In high school, Northam was voted "Most Likely to Succeed"[10] and graduated as salutatorian.[13] He was a member of his school's basketball and baseball teams.[7][10] Northam graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1981, where he served as president of VMI's honor court and received a bachelor's degree in biology.[14][15][16] He went on to Eastern Virginia Medical School, earning his M.D. degree in 1984.[14]
U.S. Army and medical career

From 1984 to 1992 he served as a United States Army medical officer. During his Army service, he completed a pediatric residency at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, followed by a child neurology fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.[17] During Operation Desert Storm, he treated evacuated casualties at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

Northam was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1992 at the rank of major, after having completed eight years of service.[18] Since 1992,[19] Northam has been a pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia.

[lagomorph777]

3. This is why off-year elections matter. Hey Virginia, join me in voting for McCauliffe this year.

[greenjar_01]

4. Glad he didn't resign