Virginia COVID-19 restrictions officially revoked

Virginia has officially revoked its COVID-19 Full Permanent Standard, a series of regulations that businesses had to follow to stop the spread of the virus.

Despite rescinding its state regulations, the Department of Labor and Industry still provides guidance on general disease mitigation recommendations that may be implemented in the workplace. And employers still must adhere to the VOSH mandatory safety and health standards that may apply to their specific industries or workplaces (long in place prior to the pandemic).

Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a news release that the DOLI’s Worker Safety Board voted to rescind the workplace restrictions after looking at current COVID-19 infections in Virginia, mitigation strategies, and finding that the COVID-19 virus no longer poses a grave danger to Virginians.

"Businesses asked us for updated workplace guidance to reflect our current COVID-19 situation in Virginia. We are pleased with [the DOLI Worker Safety Board's] move and this vote signals that a return to normalcy in Virginia is not a partisan issue,” Youngkin said in the news release. “We're going to continue providing greater certainty and decision making power to businesses and workers in the Commonwealth as we move beyond the pandemic. With the removal of these regulations, it is undeniable that Virginia is open for business."