Virginia orders bars to remain closed as it prepares to enter Phase 3 of reopening

Bar areas inside Virginia restaurants and taverns will not join the state’s next phase of reopening Wednesday, Gov. Ralph Northam said, a reversal in policy that followed Delaware’s decision to shut down recently reopened bars in beach communities.

After federal officials said Tuesday that bars were the source of coronavirus outbreaks in other states across the country, Northam said people in Virginia will continue to be prohibited from congregating inside bar areas unless they are eating at high-top tables that are set at least six feet apart.