The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus has sent a letter to Gov. Ralph Northam saying the move to reopen Virginia would be treating black and brown people like “guinea pigs for our economy.”
However, the black caucus believes the state doesn’t have the necessary testing capacity and infrastructure to safely reopen without putting minorities at an unfair risk.
Northam said his decision to open the state is based on positive trends in key metrics related to the virus’ spread, like testing capacity and hospital readiness.
After two weeks of debate by state lawmakers, Northam’s plan will reopen retail businesses with limited capacity.
However, Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has asked Northam to create a task force to track racial disparities in coronavirus pandemic in the state.
