Ralph S. Northam Governor July 17, 2020 The Honorable Bobby Dyer Mayor of Virginia Beach 2401 Courthouse Drive Virginia Beach, Virginia 23456 Dear Mayor Dyer: As elected officials, we both share the fundamental responsibility of taking action to keep people safe. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have worked tirelessly at the state level to make policy decisions that keep Virginians safe, support public health, help slow the spread of this virus, and keep our health facilities from being overwhelmed. When you asked us to allow Virginia Beach to reopen, we worked with you to develop a detailed plan to help ensure that opening the beach would be safe and would not lead to a spike in cases. You wrote on May 8, “I will give you my personal assurances of our compliance with all the health, safety and social distancing initiatives…[and the] City of Virginia Beach remains committed to coordinated government actions to better protect the health and safety of the City’s residents and visitors.” You made the same point when we spoke to the news media together 10 days later in Richmond. Unfortunately, Virginia Beach and south Hampton Roads are now seeing a troubling increase in cases, and local health officials report a substantial community spread of the virus. I am deeply concerned about these numbers—and especially by reports of crowds not adhering to social distancing, both on the boardwalk and in beach establishments. I do not have to tell you how worrisome this is, or that this cannot continue. I ask you for a full progress report on how Virginia Beach has put into action your plans for sanitizing, monitoring, and enforcing physical distancing requirements at the beach, and what you plan to do from this point forward to ensure increased compliance with essential public health measures. In the absence of concrete actions and clear progress to lower transmission rates in your city, I will have no choice other than to impose further restrictions. I urge you to step up enforcement, using the local health department and every tool you have available. We have all sacrificed a great deal across Virginia to slow this virus down, and it is vital that we prevent the sort of spike in cases that some other states are experiencing. The Honorable Bobby Dyer July 17, 2020 Page Two To do this, we must ensure that restrictions and regulations are being followed by our residents, by visitors, and in places of business. Please let me know the specific steps that Virginia Beach is taking to ensure that the top priority remains protecting the health of residents and visitors. Sincerely, Ralph S. Northam .