弗吉尼亚州当局报告称，周一新冠状病毒病例数连续第三天下降，因为州长拉尔夫·诺森(右)继续抵制要求重新开放经济的抗议者。
弗吉尼亚卫生部今天确认了总共8990例冠状病毒病例，在过去的24小时内又有453人检测呈阳性。死亡人数也从277人增加到23人，使全州死亡总人数达到300人。
这些数字标志着该州新增病例连续第三次下降。根据弗吉尼亚公共接入项目维护的数据，弗吉尼亚州4月19日有484人COVID-19检测呈阳性，4月18日有562人检测呈阳性。这一下降发生在该州4月17日出现602例确诊病例的最大感染人数增长之后。
随着反对该州在家办公措施的抗议声越来越大，诺森姆继续抵制重新开放经济的呼声。“现在不是玩政治的时候，”州长在周一的新闻发布会上说。“我们都在努力一起度过难关。”
过去一周，在几个州爆发了示威活动——其中包括弗吉尼亚州、肯塔基州、明尼苏达州和密歇根州——反隔离抗议者走上公共区域，要求终止大幅减缓病毒传播和国家经济的家庭禁止令。
诺森姆描述说，上周看到大约50名抗议者和他们的孩子聚集在州长大楼外。他说，他们没有遵守白宫的社交距离准则，也没有戴口罩。他补充说，他不需要抗议者提醒他经济仍处于封闭状态。
2020年4月16日，在弗吉尼亚州里士满的国会广场外，抗议者聚集起来反对与冠状病毒大流行相关的留在家里的命令。
尽管他们做出了努力，弗吉尼亚州的领导人仍然警告说，该州还没有准备好安全地重新开放。诺森姆周一表示，该州将遵循白宫的指导方针，该方针要求增加对卫生保健工作者的检测以及确诊病例减少14天等基准。
随着唐纳德·特朗普总统继续推动迅速重新开放，一些州州长不得不在公共安全和来自总统基地的缩短封锁措施的呼吁之间取得平衡。据彭博社报道，特朗普的竞选代理人和密歇根保守派联盟是密歇根州抗议活动的领导者之一。
共和党和民主党州长批评特朗普周五发布的一系列推文似乎支持抗议活动。“解放明尼苏达！”总统在一条推文中写道。“解放密歇根！”他在另一封信中说。诺森姆发现很难将特朗普的推文与联邦政府放松家庭订单的指导方针相协调。周一，州长说总统的言论传达了复杂的信息。
特朗普同情抗议者，并拒绝在周日的白宫新闻发布会上谴责他们的示威活动。相反，他抨击州长们据称对冠状病毒的限制太过了。
“有些人走得太远，有些州长走得太远。有些事情可能不太合适，”总统说。“我认为最终这并不重要，因为我们开始开放我们的州，我认为他们会非常开放。”
新闻周刊联系了诺瑟姆的办公室，请其置评。
VIRGINIA INFECTIONS DROP FOR THIRD DAY AS GOVERNOR HOLDS OUT AGAINST TRUMP-SUPPORTED PROTESTS
Virginia authorities reported a drop in the number of new coronavirus cases for the third straight day on Monday as Governor Ralph Northam (D) continues to resist protesters calling for the economy to be reopened.
The Virginia Department of Health confirmed a total of 8,990 coronavirus cases today, with 453 additional individuals testing positive over the past 24 hours. The death toll also increased by 23 from 277, bringing the total number of fatalities across the state to 300.
The figures mark the third consecutive drop in new cases for the state. Virginia saw 484 individuals test positive for COVID-19 on April 19 and 562 on April 18, according to data maintained by the Virginia Public Access Project. The decline came after the state saw its sharpest increase in infected individuals on April 17 with 602 confirmed cases.
As protests against the state's stay-at-home measure grows louder, Northam has continued to push back against calls to reopen the economy. "This is not the time to play politics," the governor said during Monday's press conference. "We're all trying to get through this together."
Demonstrations broke out in several states over the past week—among them Virginia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Michigan—as anti-quarantine protesters took to public areas to demand an end to the stay-at-home orders that have drastically slowed virus' spread, as well as the country's economy.
Northam described seeing around 50 protesters congregate outside the governor's building last week with their children. They were not adhering to the White House's social distancing guidelines or wearing masks, he said, adding that he doesn't need protesters reminding him that the economy is still closed.
Protesters rally against stay-at-home orders related to the coronavirus pandemic outside Capitol Square in Richmond, Virginia on April 16, 2020.
Despite their efforts, Virginia leaders have continued to warn that the state isn't ready to safely reopen. Northam on Monday said the state will follow the White House guidelines, which requires benchmarks such as increased testing for health care workers and a 14-day decline in confirmed cases.
As President Donald Trump continues to push for a quick reopening, some state governors have had to balance public safety with calls from the president's base to shorten their lockdown measures. According to Bloomberg, a Trump campaign surrogate and the Michigan Conservative Coalition were among those that led protests in Michigan.
Republican and Democratic governors have criticized Trump over a series of tweets he posed on Friday that appeared to support the protests. "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" the president wrote in one tweet. "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" he said in another. Northam has found it difficult to reconcile Trump's tweets with the federal government's guidelines to relax stay-at-home orders. On Monday, the governor said the president's remarks sent mixed messages.
Trump sympathized with the protesters and declined to condemn their demonstrations during Sunday's White House news conference. Instead, he lashed out at governors for allegedly taking coronavirus restrictions too far.
"Some have gone too far, some governors have gone too far. Some of the things that happened are maybe not so appropriate," the president said. "And I think in the end it's not going to matter because we're starting to open up our states, and I think they're going to open up very well."
Newsweek reached out to Northam's office for comment.
