RICHMOND, Va. — With a surge in the omicron variant nationwide, some schools in Maryland and Washington, D.C. are returning to virtual learning. But that won’t be the case here in Virginia.

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin says students need to be in the classroom five days a week and he has no plans to return to virtual learning in public schools across the Commonwealth. Youngkin also said that he “does not believe that mandating masks in school is the right way,” adding that he will push back on federal vaccine mandates.

In North Carolina, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday declined to reimpose any statewide mandates or use financial perks to encourage residents to get a third dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Earlier this year, Cooper’s administration used such incentives to persuade North Carolinians to get their first shots.

But Cooper and state health officials have issued their strongest public health warning yet heading into the holidays, saying they anticipate the omicron variant of COVID-19 will soon severely strain hospitals, become the dominant variant and lead to the highest daily case counts since the pandemic first hit North Carolina in March 2020.