Restaurant limits, bars closures likely as North Texas COVID hospitalizations soar
Tarrant County health officials on Tuesday described the COVID-19 surge as “dire” and pleaded for restaurants to voluntarily reduce capacity and bars to close to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
But the businesses may not have a choice under Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order if the numbers keep increasing. His executive order issued in October, which allowed businesses to increase capacity and bars to open, requires that COVID-19 hospitalizations do not exceed 15% of capacity for seven consecutive days.
As of Tuesday, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the 19-county North Texas Trauma Service Area are at 14.39% of capacity, according to Vinny Taneja, the county’s public health director.
If the number tops 15% for seven consecutive days, businesses would have to go back to 50% capacity and bars would have to close.
Taneja and his team also issued a public health warning as only 36 ICU beds are available in the county.
While not a mandate, his warning is a plea to residents to do their part to get the numbers down. He urged that business owners to voluntarily lower capacity to 50% and that non-essential ones go to 25%. Bars should also consider closing, he said, and he also reiterated Judge Glen Whitley’s plea that schools stop sporting events. In addition, parents should consider online learning for their children and cancel any social gatherings they have planned.
“We’re heading into the holidays and I want to make sure we have as safe a holiday as possible,” Taneja said.
Whitley said he feels powerless in the fight to slow coronavirus. Whitley said he is concerned that Tarrant could end up like El Paso, where hospitals are rationing care and bodies are stored in mobile morgues.
An appeals court has blocked El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego’s shutdown of businesses, citing that it goes against Abbott’s order.
Whitley has said he felt if he tried to do anything other than extending the mask mandate he would be involved in a lawsuit with the state. He said he has tried to communicate with the governor’s office to ask what the plan is moving forward, but as of now, there’s been no response.
Whitley said people need to understand that the mask mandate is in place so the economy won’t need to shut down again. He’d rather give cities the power to issue citations for not wearing masks than closing businesses.
Tarrant County has reached hospitalization levels from the July peak. The percent of all beds used by COVID-19 patients is at 16%, surpassing the peak of 15% back in July, according to county data. The percent of occupied beds used by COVID-19 patients is at 20%, matching the peak in July.
Last week, Tarrant County reported a record 8,379 new cases of the novel coronavirus, up from the previous week’s record of 5,403.
Taneja expressed concern that 92% of ICU beds are filled with about 37% occupied by COVID-19 patients, he said.
With just a couple of bad accidents, the county’s ICU beds may be full, he said.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 5:57 PM.
