Fort Worth-area bars will reopen soon. Here’s how to reduce COVID risk if you go out
Tarrant County will follow the state’s lead and let bars, bingo halls, bowling alleys and other businesses reopen to limited crowds on Friday — and allow summer camps and professional sports without in-person fans by the end of the month.
“We are moving closer to trying to open things back up,” Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said Monday, after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced phase two of reopening Texas. “I don’t disagree with that one bit.”
Nonessential businesses were closed in March to slow the spread of coronavirus and to make sure that there were enough hospital beds for anyone who came down with the illness.
As of Monday, there were 2,233 available hospital beds and 434 available ventilators in Tarrant County, where 210 patients with coronavirus are in the hospital.
“We still have plenty of available hospital beds,” Whitley said. “That was the goal from Day One.”
Whitley said he realizes some residents may be cautious and perhaps might keep children home from summer camps or continue working from home. Some might not be ready to go back to dining in at restaurants, even though capacity can be 50% as of Friday.
He personally said he’d like to go into his gym to see how everything is being cleaned before scheduling a time to go in to work out. Gyms were allowed to reopen Monday, with reduced capacity.
“I think people are cautious about all this,” Whitley said. “But I think they are ready to experiment with what normal will be.
“It’s going to be interesting.”
A full list of when certain businesses can reopen is available on Abbott’s website.
Reduce the risk
Even as Abbott announced the pending reopening of businesses, he stressedthat people continue to social distance, wear masks and sanitize their hands.
“Those safe practices save lives,” said Abbott, who also urged Texans 65 and older to continue staying home “if at all possible.”
Whitley said if people are up and moving around, such as shopping at a store, the golden rule should be to wear a mask.
But if someone is sitting down at a restaurant for a meal, then the masks aren’t as critical.
“Continue washing hands and social distancing,” Whitley recommends.
