Tarrant County judge calls for suspension of athletic events amid record COVID surge
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said Tuesday that athletic events, including those sponsored by schools and cities, need to be suspended amid a surge of record coronavirus cases.
While stopping short of issuing an order, Whitley said social distancing is difficult during competition, when athletes are not wearing masks and are in close contact with each other. He also has seen some parents in the crowds too close to each other and not wearing masks.
Whitley, making his comments during the county commissioners meeting, said he would look to extend the county’s mask order and its declaration of local disaster, which expire on Nov. 30. The judge said he wished that Gov. Greg Abbott would give local authorities the permission to freely give people citations for not following safety guidelines.
At the moment, Whitley feels limited in what he can do to stop the climbing coronavirus cases. He said county judges should do what’s best for their county without state interference.
County health director Vinny Taneja said he would issue a public health warning, meaning the novel coronavirus is rampant in the community and that residents must be vigilant. He urged people to avoid large family gatherings during Thanksgiving and Christmas. With these two major holidays coming up, Taneja said, coronavirus cases could spike to numbers the county has never seen.
Whitley’s and Taneja’s comments come after the county reported a record 1,525 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the fourth time in the past five days officials have announced single-day highs.
The county reported single-day new case records on three consecutive days: Thursday (938), Friday (952) and Saturday (1,062) before cases dropped to 456 on Sunday.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased to 16% of the 3,849 occupied beds in the county as of Monday. It is the highest rate since the county reported 16% hospitalizations on Aug. 3. The county reported a pandemic high of 20% COVID hospitalizations among occupied beds on July 23. Since dropping to 7% on Sept. 21, the rate has steadily increased.
In a press conference after the county commissioners meeting, Taneja said the record-breaking rise in cases is fueled by both large gatherings and small gatherings with friends and family.
Lacking an executive order like March’s shutdown, Taneja said it’s up to the residents of Tarrant County to take responsibility and slow the virus by wearing masks, only going out when they need to and practicing social distancing. When the outbreak was at its worst in July, people followed public health guidance to get the numbers down and that’s what the county needs now, he said.
For the last couple of months, Whitley has received backlash from some residents for enacting the mask mandate. The judge has said wearing masks allows him to keep businesses open while also combating the spread of the virus. But, on Tuesday, Whitley acknowledged there is very little he could do regarding a new order.
Whitley said he could close the bars, but he doesn’t believe they are causing problems. And if Whitley were to close businesses, he said he’d probably get sued just as the El Paso County judge did when he tried to shut down businesses because of a COVID-19 spike. In that lawsuit, Attorney General Ken Paxton was involved, claiming a shutdown in El Paso County was unconstitutional and went against Abbott’s order.
“The governor’s order is doesn’t give us the authority that everybody thinks it gives us,” Whitley said.
A state district judge ruled Friday that the El Paso county judge’s order could stand, according to the Texas Tribune. Whitley said the outcome of this case would show what county judges could do during this pandemic going forward.
This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 11:30 AM.
