Ready to head back to work? Here’s what happens in Tarrant County on Friday
Many businesses throughout Tarrant County will be able to reopen their doors on Friday.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he will talk to the commissioners court Tuesday about Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders that allow restaurants, malls, movie theaters, libraries, museums, retail stores and more reopen — at 25% capacity —on Friday. Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said in a Facebook video she would allow the city’s stay-at-home order to expire Thursday and default to the governor’s guidance.
“I think it opens a lot of stuff up,” said Whitley, who initially had proposed reopening some businesses by the end of the first or second week of May.
Abbott’s order, which reopens Texas businesses in phases, supersedes local orders. He said the Texas Department of State Health Services will issue minimum standard health protocols for businesses and people to follow.
The governor said he will let his stay-at-home executive order expire Thursday. Stay-at-home orders in Fort Worth and Tarrant County also run through Thursday.
“I feel certain we will do as much as we can to mirror his order to begin to open things back up,” Whitley said, adding that the county doesn’t have to pass a new order and could let the governor’s order go in effect.
Price called Abbott’s plan “well balanced, well studied.”
“I know many of you are concerned about us opening to quick and many are concerned about not opening quick enough,” Price said. “I do think that this ensures public safety while beginning to ease this back into an economy that really does need to be restarted.”
Whitley said he doesn’t think Abbott’s plan is too broad or too quick.
“I do agree that what we are focusing on is keeping hospitals open,” he said. “I think this will continue to do that.”
The key now, Whitley said, will be to control crowds and continue social distancing.
Tarrant County scored a D on the most recent COVID-19 social distancing scoreboard, according to smartphone GPS data compiled by Unacast, an analytics company that has gathered data from tens of millions of cell phone users across the world.
And that’s slightly higher than the state’s ranking. Texas received a D-minus.
When asked what advice he would give to residents, Whitley said he urges everyone to “be very careful.”
“I strongly recommend they wear masks when they are out,” he said, noting that Abbott made it clear no one could mandate that or fine anyone for not wearing them. “And the most vulnerable need to be especially careful.”
Through Monday, there have been 2,019 positive cases of coronavirus reported in Tarrant County. That includes 53 deaths and 289 recoveries.
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
