On Tuesday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed an executive order allowing Northern Virginia to delay reopening until May 29. The rest of the commonwealth will begin reopening on May 15.

Northam had been signaling suspending the region’s reopening since the weekend, when local Northern Virginia leaders sent a letter to the governor requesting the delay. In the letter, leaders from the Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties and the city of Alexandria said that the region wasn’t yet meeting the metrics that Northam laid out for the state’s reopening on May 15.

This includes COVID-19 patients accounting for a larger portion of the region’s hospital bed capacity and the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests. While the commonwealth as a whole has about a 15 percent rate of positive tests, according to the most recent data, the Northern Virginia region has about a 25 percent rate, according to the governor. This was the main statistic that Northam cited in his order to allow the delay of Northern Virginia.

Northern Virginia also makes up the lion’s share of COVID-19 cases in the commonwealth. Virginia has reported 1,199 new cases over the past 24 hours, and more than 700 of those are from Northern Virginia while about 270 are from the rest of Virginia, according to the governor’s statement. “On any given day, 70 percent of the Commonwealth’s positive cases are attributable to the Northern Virginia Region,” reads Northam’s statement.

The rest of the commonwealth will be moving into phase one of the “Forward Virginia” plan on Friday. “Phase One” allows for the operation of retail establishments at 50 percent occupancy, restaurant and beverage establishments with outdoor seating at 50 percent occupancy, fitness centers providing outdoor exercise services, and personal grooming services to service one patron at a time.

“We appreciate the Governor reviewing our request and determining that we were not yet at a point where we were meeting the appropriate public health criteria to move to a reopening,” said Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson in an emailed statement to DCist/WAMU.

Wilson is hopeful that Northern Virginia will be able to meet the governor’s metrics by May 29.  “Only the virus knows the timing, but the public health experts seems optimistic that we’ll be in a better place by then,” he said.

Alexandria is more in tune with monitoring neighboring jurisdictions in the D.C. metropolitan area than faraway Virginia locales, Wilson told DCist/WAMU over the weekend. “It is far more relevant to us with what’s happening in Bethesda, Northwest D.C., Southwest D.C., and Prince George’s County than what’s happening in Danville, Virginia Beach, or Roanoke,” he said.

Northern Virginia leaders say they expect to reopen as a region rather than make decisions as separate jurisdictions.

“Our County and region are actively working to meet the health criteria laid out by the Governor which are needed in order to reopen the economy and we are hoping that is in the next couple of weeks,” said Fairfax County Chairman Jeff McKay in a statement. “Northern Virginia is a united front.”