VIRGINIA ENACTS FIRST PERMANENT WORKPLACE VIRUS PROTECTION STANDARDS IN THE NATION RICHMOND, VA – Today, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into effect the first permanent workplace virus protection standards in the nation. On Wednesday, January 13, 2021, the Virginia Health and Safety Board voted 9 – 4 (with one abstention) to create the first permanent workplace virus protection standards in the country. It was during this past summer while the COVID-19 virus began seeing a major uptick in positive cases across the Commonwealth that Virginia became the first state in the nation to enact an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency temporary standard that addressed workplace protections. States such as California, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington followed suit and also enacted similar emergency temporary standards.