COVID-19: Reopening Loudoun County

Current Status: Phase Three

Update Effective December 14, 2020: With COVID-19 cases rising throughout Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam announced new, targeted measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus with Executive Order 72 (PDF). The following mitigation measures will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, December 14, 2020:

Modified Stay-at-Home Order: All individuals in Virginia must remain at their place of residence between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Exceptions include obtaining food and goods, traveling to and from work, and seeking medical attention.
Universal mask requirement: All Virginians aged five and over are required to wear face coverings in indoor settings shared with others and when outdoors within six feet of another person. This order expands the current statewide mask mandate, which has been in place since May 29, and requires all individuals aged five and over to wear face coverings in indoor and outdoor public settings outside of their own household. These changes are consistent with new CDC guidelines, released December 4, which recommend universal wearing of face coverings.
Reduction in social gatherings: All social gatherings must be limited to 10 individuals, down from the current cap of 25 people. Social gatherings include, but are not limited to, parties, celebrations, or other social events, regardless of whether they occur indoors or outdoors. This does not apply to religious services, employment settings, or educational settings. Restaurants and retail stores are already governed by strict social distancing requirements, and are not included in this limit.
Continued limits on dining establishments: Virginia restaurants are currently governed by strict social distancing and sanitization requirements, which remain in place. The on-site sale, consumption, and possession of alcohol remains prohibited after 10:00 p.m. in any restaurant, dining establishment, food court, brewery, microbrewery, distillery, winery, or tasting room. All restaurants, dining establishments, food courts, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, and tasting rooms must close by midnight.
Teleworking: Employees who can telework are strongly encouraged to do so.

Read for the full text of the governor's December 10, 2020 news release.

Since July 1, 2020, Loudoun County has been in Phase Three of the "Forward Virginia" plan. The plan is a three-phase plan to “reopen” the state by gradually easing the restrictions that have been placed on businesses, places of worship, and public facilities in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In Phase Three, we maintain a Safer at Home strategy with continued recommendations for social distancing and teleworking, and the face coverings requirements for indoor public settings.

Loudoun was in Phase One from May 29 - June 11, 2020 and Phase Two from June 11 - June 30, 2020.

Face Coverings

Effective December 14, 2020, everyone aged five and over are required to wear face coverings in indoor settings shared with others and when outdoors within six feet of another person, which expands the previous statewide mask mandate, which has been in place since May 29. A face covering includes anything that covers your nose and mouth, such as a mask, scarf, or bandana. These changes are consistent with new CDC guidelines, released December 4, which recommend universal wearing of face coverings.

Learn more about face coverings.
If you have observed violations of Executive 72 and wish to file a complaint, fill out the VDH report form.

Forward Virginia Guidelines

The “Forward Virginia” plan is based on achieving certain data points that, when met, indicate we are ready to move into the next phase of the plan. The timelines for each phase are determined by monitoring health data, the data points include: