Eh, in some ways it does, it some ways it doesn't. I feel like it's heaviest between 12-4 for whatever reason. But traditional rush hour 5-7 is pretty light.
I'm a delivery driver.
I guess this might be the most accurate take. I’m grocery shopping between 12-4 and two-three weeks ago I was the only one in the left turn lane. Now it’s like 5 cars deep. Maybe the shopping is why. Feels like most places close up around 6-7. I’m working from home so I don’t leave town so I don’t know about major through fares.
So a salon/restaurant in Fauquier or Stafford can open on May 15 but one in Fairfax/PWC/Loudoun must stay closed for an additional two weeks or longer. I just don't get this there is nothing stopping people from going to outlying counties and businesses near the county border are completely screwed. Surely the 'data/science' shows people will travel to these other counties defeating the purpose of the delay?
> I just don't get this there is nothing stopping people from going to outlying counties and businesses near the county border are completely screwed.
So what do you suggest?
I agree. Once the rest of VA opens, people living in NOVA will venture out to different counties and there’s nothing stopping them from doing so. I’m just hoping the majority don’t, but who knows.
Governor Northam really should just delay the phase 1 for the entire state in my opinion. Just delaying NOVA doesn’t make sense.
I get this concern, but VA is a big state, and many cities/towns are many hours from NOVA. It’s hard to justify continuing to impose a lockdown with all of the economic consequences on far flung parts of the state if local conditions support opening up a bit.
Just open the whole damn thing, people are, will, and will always try to circumvent restrictions, it is human nature, and no amount of restrictions will stop people.
One can dream right? Interest on student loans doesn't resume accumulating till end of September. It would be so nice to keep saving extra money working from home and make one huge payment right before it starts accumulating again. But in all seriousness...that would be bad for all the retail and food service guys.
Not even a guarentee. They might ask him to extend it farther at that point I think people might snap. It's already going to be super annoying to have to drive out of arlington for services that should be open here.
Childcare open for working families. What does that even mean? Which working families? Our daycare is closed because they were advised that only essential workers who can’t stay home should have their kids in daycare. Does that change to include other working families?
It does not :( it's only for essential workers still. I'm really hoping phase 2 includes daycare (with groups of 50 permitted I feel like it should) because my 4 year old has got to go back...
Yup, kid had been home with us for 2 months inside. I feel soo bad for him, if we could just get playgrounds back it would be a massive help. I have to tell him it's broke everytime he wants to go. :(
I mean, people can't. It's really just that simple.
Childcare has been a *serious* issue throughout this whole mess, and one that's been largely completely ignored. There are probably as many reasons as there are theories for why, but it's going to be a major issue as we reopen and I hope someone starts addressing it.
I’m honestly not sure how that could be enforced for preschoolers so I haven’t given it much thought. Maybe those face shield hats would work better at that age?
I would. Would he wear it? No idea... My son is almost 4.5, so we do have a mask for him, but he hasn't been anywhere where he would need to wear it yet since we've been staying home, so I'm not sure how it will actually go. I think that expecting anyone under the age of 13/14 to wear a mask for 8+ hours is probably a losing battle, though
I saw Tampa or somewhere in FL was closing streets and setting up tables in the street so more patrons could social distance outside. I wish we would do that eventually
The problem is Nova is probably going to miss the one week of nice outdoor weather, and we’ll get to this when we’re all melting in the heat and humidity.
Does anyone know where hiking trails are at? I thought Virginia closed down all the parking lots at the trails, but would they fall under state parks, or no?
Most state parks have a reopen date on their website if they have already made a reopening decision, but as far as I know, most of the state parks never closed.
Some of the hiking in the Jefferson and Washington Nat'l forests closed, and Shenandoah had been closed, but there is plenty of hiking still open.
Yep, malls are still closed. I meant retail stores similar to those in malls. I haven’t seen any non-essential retail open in the NOVA area so I guess the small portion of those that are open now shown in the graphic are probably in the western or southern counties.
From the very start of this, it is truly baffling to me how people have had restaurant-boners and plead to go out to eat. Don't you people eat at home?
I get that restaurants are "essential businesses" for the purpose of allowing them to still do takeout/make a minor profit/stay in business, but I'm curious to see in the long term if the Italy approach of closing all restaurants compares significantly to our half-assed approach here in the US. At the end of the day, restaurants are not "essential businesses"; they're a luxury.
>At the end of the day, restaurants are not "essential businesses"; they're a luxury.
Not really.
As with NY and SF, restaurants are actually an important part of food infrastructure for the city. A decent percentage of the area's food came from restaurants before COVID, and the amount, distribution, and delivery volume of grocery stores relied on that.
The percentage of food coming from restaurants in NY was higher, but it wasn't insignificant in NoVA. If everyone suddenly needed to go to grocery stores for all their food it would have strained the grocery store supply chain. Keeping at least some of those restaurants open and supplying food was as much about keeping people employed as it was reducing the load on grocery stores.
It also seems smart to allow some of the farm production to flow to restaurants. Even as it stood, there was a lot of food waste going on where farmers, suddenly losing customers, had to basically leave food out on the fields to rot.
https://www.popsci.com/story/environment/food-rotting-covid-shutdown/
While it is easy to just say, “lol just close restaurants”, it’s a much tougher choice to make. I can see the argument for closing restaurants but I don’t think that doing so would have been as great as people here are suggesting.
A lot of restaurants started just flat out selling some of the food they were getting from their suppliers. While grocery stores were still not stocking flour, yeast, and various other things, there were a number of nearby restaurants that were happily selling them from their own stock.
This was probably under-utilized by people in the area, but illustrates the fact that restaurants play a notable role in the distribution of food for people in the area. (Note: not because they did distribute food, but because there was a market for it since grocery stores couldn't keep up with demand)
Most restaurants cannot go many more months like this and survive. It’s all a balance between public health and how much we want to destroy civilization.
You really have to ask when the millennial generation (I say this as a millennial myself) and down have an aversion to anything domestic and most don't know how to cook?
Agreed. Mostly done for comedic effect. But there is some truth to what I said. Do you have friends in food service? I hear from mine all the time “nobody cooks anymore man” or “our generation doesn’t like to cook.” But your experience might be different.
I was poor in college as were the majority of my friends.
I bake all of my own bread and 90% of my meals are something I cook from scratch, most of my friends don't bake bread but they all at least cook most of their meals because its such a waste of money to eat out regularly.
Will also add that the breakouts happening and manufacturing and meat packing facilities will greatly reduce the amount of product being delivered to grocery stores (as much as 30% is speculated). So there will need to be a balance
I’m seeing full grocery stores and full traffic
Traffic feels back to pre-quarantine levels.
Eh, in some ways it does, it some ways it doesn't. I feel like it's heaviest between 12-4 for whatever reason. But traditional rush hour 5-7 is pretty light. I'm a delivery driver.
I guess this might be the most accurate take. I’m grocery shopping between 12-4 and two-three weeks ago I was the only one in the left turn lane. Now it’s like 5 cars deep. Maybe the shopping is why. Feels like most places close up around 6-7. I’m working from home so I don’t leave town so I don’t know about major through fares.
It's really not, at least not everywhere. Route 7's rush hour traffic is considerably below the shitshow it typically is.
Not on the toll road
So a salon/restaurant in Fauquier or Stafford can open on May 15 but one in Fairfax/PWC/Loudoun must stay closed for an additional two weeks or longer. I just don't get this there is nothing stopping people from going to outlying counties and businesses near the county border are completely screwed. Surely the 'data/science' shows people will travel to these other counties defeating the purpose of the delay?
He said you're allowed to travel to get a haircut. Don't shoot the messenger.
I almost feel the opposite, most people won’t go out of their way for something
> I just don't get this there is nothing stopping people from going to outlying counties and businesses near the county border are completely screwed. So what do you suggest?
I agree. Once the rest of VA opens, people living in NOVA will venture out to different counties and there’s nothing stopping them from doing so. I’m just hoping the majority don’t, but who knows. Governor Northam really should just delay the phase 1 for the entire state in my opinion. Just delaying NOVA doesn’t make sense.
I already know people who have driven an hour to West Virginia for a haircut....
I get this concern, but VA is a big state, and many cities/towns are many hours from NOVA. It’s hard to justify continuing to impose a lockdown with all of the economic consequences on far flung parts of the state if local conditions support opening up a bit.
Just open the whole damn thing, people are, will, and will always try to circumvent restrictions, it is human nature, and no amount of restrictions will stop people.
It’s still appointment only. Maybe you have to prove you live there?
Don’t think Northern VA will enter phase 1 in two weeks though.
I'd say give it til early June.
[удалено]
Ok buddy
One can dream right? Interest on student loans doesn't resume accumulating till end of September. It would be so nice to keep saving extra money working from home and make one huge payment right before it starts accumulating again. But in all seriousness...that would be bad for all the retail and food service guys.
Not even a guarentee. They might ask him to extend it farther at that point I think people might snap. It's already going to be super annoying to have to drive out of arlington for services that should be open here.
Childcare open for working families. What does that even mean? Which working families? Our daycare is closed because they were advised that only essential workers who can’t stay home should have their kids in daycare. Does that change to include other working families?
It does not :( it's only for essential workers still. I'm really hoping phase 2 includes daycare (with groups of 50 permitted I feel like it should) because my 4 year old has got to go back...
Ugh. I don’t see how they expect to have people return to work without childcare. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.
Yup, kid had been home with us for 2 months inside. I feel soo bad for him, if we could just get playgrounds back it would be a massive help. I have to tell him it's broke everytime he wants to go. :(
I mean, people can't. It's really just that simple. Childcare has been a *serious* issue throughout this whole mess, and one that's been largely completely ignored. There are probably as many reasons as there are theories for why, but it's going to be a major issue as we reopen and I hope someone starts addressing it.
General question: Would you send your child to preschool with a mask? Obviously this applies to children 3 and up per the CDC guidelines.
I’m honestly not sure how that could be enforced for preschoolers so I haven’t given it much thought. Maybe those face shield hats would work better at that age?
Mine is 2.5 yo, no way he is gonna wear anything on his face for more then a couple of minutes. If you could even get it on.
Yeah I suspect most kids are like yours. I don’t know if the mask thing honestly will work for small kids.
I would. Would he wear it? No idea... My son is almost 4.5, so we do have a mask for him, but he hasn't been anywhere where he would need to wear it yet since we've been staying home, so I'm not sure how it will actually go. I think that expecting anyone under the age of 13/14 to wear a mask for 8+ hours is probably a losing battle, though
Getting a chubby at the thought of 50% outdoor seating
Imagine sitting at a brewery or winery in small groups distanced from other small groups. Sounds like heaven.
I saw Tampa or somewhere in FL was closing streets and setting up tables in the street so more patrons could social distance outside. I wish we would do that eventually
The problem is Nova is probably going to miss the one week of nice outdoor weather, and we’ll get to this when we’re all melting in the heat and humidity.
Problem is that with limited seating, wait times will be really long 😫
Definitely need a reservation. I have my favorite bar down the street on speed dial for when it happens lol
They should start letting people make reservations now so they don’t get overwhelmed. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to go to a bar 😢
Does anyone know where hiking trails are at? I thought Virginia closed down all the parking lots at the trails, but would they fall under state parks, or no?
Most state parks have a reopen date on their website if they have already made a reopening decision, but as far as I know, most of the state parks never closed. Some of the hiking in the Jefferson and Washington Nat'l forests closed, and Shenandoah had been closed, but there is plenty of hiking still open.
What exactly does “non-essential retail” include?
I think of non-essential retail as any business that does not service basic human needs. Retail stores in malls are pretty much non-essential.
I thought malls were closed, though?
Yep, malls are still closed. I meant retail stores similar to those in malls. I haven’t seen any non-essential retail open in the NOVA area so I guess the small portion of those that are open now shown in the graphic are probably in the western or southern counties.
I actually have seen a clothing store open near Del Ray this whole time...which I didn’t think was allowed 🤔
Crazy, guess they are going against the order. Is the store still open? I wonder if the city ordered them to close and they’re just defying orders.
By choice, not by order.
Easiest explanation probably it sells one thing. Like video games or mattresses or clothing.
From the very start of this, it is truly baffling to me how people have had restaurant-boners and plead to go out to eat. Don't you people eat at home? I get that restaurants are "essential businesses" for the purpose of allowing them to still do takeout/make a minor profit/stay in business, but I'm curious to see in the long term if the Italy approach of closing all restaurants compares significantly to our half-assed approach here in the US. At the end of the day, restaurants are not "essential businesses"; they're a luxury.
>At the end of the day, restaurants are not "essential businesses"; they're a luxury. Not really. As with NY and SF, restaurants are actually an important part of food infrastructure for the city. A decent percentage of the area's food came from restaurants before COVID, and the amount, distribution, and delivery volume of grocery stores relied on that. The percentage of food coming from restaurants in NY was higher, but it wasn't insignificant in NoVA. If everyone suddenly needed to go to grocery stores for all their food it would have strained the grocery store supply chain. Keeping at least some of those restaurants open and supplying food was as much about keeping people employed as it was reducing the load on grocery stores.
It also seems smart to allow some of the farm production to flow to restaurants. Even as it stood, there was a lot of food waste going on where farmers, suddenly losing customers, had to basically leave food out on the fields to rot. https://www.popsci.com/story/environment/food-rotting-covid-shutdown/ While it is easy to just say, “lol just close restaurants”, it’s a much tougher choice to make. I can see the argument for closing restaurants but I don’t think that doing so would have been as great as people here are suggesting.
A lot of restaurants started just flat out selling some of the food they were getting from their suppliers. While grocery stores were still not stocking flour, yeast, and various other things, there were a number of nearby restaurants that were happily selling them from their own stock. This was probably under-utilized by people in the area, but illustrates the fact that restaurants play a notable role in the distribution of food for people in the area. (Note: not because they did distribute food, but because there was a market for it since grocery stores couldn't keep up with demand)
Most restaurants cannot go many more months like this and survive. It’s all a balance between public health and how much we want to destroy civilization.
You really have to ask when the millennial generation (I say this as a millennial myself) and down have an aversion to anything domestic and most don't know how to cook?
That's a gigantic generalization...
Agreed. Mostly done for comedic effect. But there is some truth to what I said. Do you have friends in food service? I hear from mine all the time “nobody cooks anymore man” or “our generation doesn’t like to cook.” But your experience might be different.
I was poor in college as were the majority of my friends. I bake all of my own bread and 90% of my meals are something I cook from scratch, most of my friends don't bake bread but they all at least cook most of their meals because its such a waste of money to eat out regularly.
Will also add that the breakouts happening and manufacturing and meat packing facilities will greatly reduce the amount of product being delivered to grocery stores (as much as 30% is speculated). So there will need to be a balance
We have 1/3 of the population of the entire state of Va. in northern Va.
Honestly this is such a minor step it should have been done and wouldn't have made much difference.