FAIRFAX, Va. – Amid a surge in COVID 19 cases across Virginia, a large group of teachers in Northern Virginia is urging Gov. Ralph Northam to return the state to virtual learning.

Representatives from teacher associations in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington and Manassas Park will hold a news conference Monday urging state leaders to reconsider a return to the classroom.

Many school systems have returned to class or have introduced a hybrid model.

In a statement Sunday evening, the Fairfax Education Association said it “stands with our colleagues from the Northern Virginia region to ask the Governor to return the Commonwealth to a full Phase II of the reopening plan and to recommend that our schools return to a fully virtual method of instruction …”

The education associations represent more than 12,000 school employees across Northern Virginia.

On Friday, Gov. Ralph Northam announced substantial new statewide restrictions on gatherings and certain businesses in an effort to slow rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The Democratic governor said that the state’s cap on gatherings will be reduced from 250 to 25. Also, the state’s mask requirement will be applied to younger children, and alcohol sales will be prohibited at dining establishments after 10 p.m.

Those and other new restrictions went into effect at midnight Sunday.

The changes came as the coronavirus is surging across the U.S. at what experts say is an alarming pace.