Texas governor extends social distancing mandates, closes schools until May
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a new executive order Tuesday that requires Texans to stay home through April and abide by social distancing measures when accessing services deemed essential by the state.
He also extended Texas school closures until at least May 4, in an effort to limit spread of the novel coronavirus in Texas.
“As the president has made clear, we are not yet done with our response,” Abbott said from the Texas Capitol on Tuesday, flanked by state leaders including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen. “We’ve come too far to falter now. We’ve made tremendous strides but we have not yet reached our destination.”
Abbott’s new executive order that requires all Texans to minimize social gatherings and in-person contact follows mounting pressure from local officials, hospital systems and lawmakers to issue uniform policies statewide.
However, Abbott rejected the label of a “shelter-in-place” or “stay-at-home” order Tuesday, emphasizing that Texans may still leave their homes for essential services and that domestic travel will not be restricted.
“In short, what this provides is that Texans are expected to limit personal interactions that could lead to the spread of COVID-19, while also still having the freedom to conduct daily activities such as going to the grocery store, so long as you are following the presidential standard of good distance practices,” Abbott said.
Essential services will consist of industries listed in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s guidance on essential critical infrastructure workforce, and include sectors such as public health, transportation, food and agriculture and more.
Religious services are also deemed an essential service. They must be conducted virtually or abide by appropriate social distancing measures if in-person, Abbott said. He used the example of a “drive-up” service where people remain in their cars as a possibility “that seems like it would satisfy the criteria that we’re talking about.”
However, under some local stay-at-home orders, including ones in Tarrant County and Fort Worth, houses of worship were required to close to the public — although church leaders could gather to facilitate online worship.
Abbott said religious services that are permitted under Tuesday’s executive order cannot be denied by a local ordinance.
“To the extent that it’s not overridden by this executive order, local jurisdictions do still have the flexibility to impose standards that they may consider to be more strict,” Abbott said.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management may approve and add additional essential services, and will maintain a list at tdem.texas.gov/essentialservices.
The order will go into effect statewide at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, April 2, and last through April 30 — with the possibility of being extended based on the spread of COVID-19 in Texas and the recommendations of federal officials, including the CDC and White House Coronavirus Task Force.
According to the executive order, businesses that must be closed to in-person visits include gyms, massage parlors, tattoo and piercing studios, cosmetology salons, and dining-in at restaurants and bars. Drive-through or take-out orders at restaurants are still allowed and encouraged, Abbott said.
Services that are not deemed “essential” should operate remotely, according to the order.
“The only thing that is allowed are essential services and personal activities that correspond with those services,” John Wittman, a spokesman for Abbott, said after Tuesday’s press conference. “That is in addition to the personal and religious activities that the executive order explicitly allows.”
Abbott said the extension of school closures — which was previously set to end this Friday — and social distancing mandates was in an effort to align with federal guidance, as President Donald Trump extended social distancing guidelines through April 30 this past Sunday.
Over the last few weeks, local officials, lawmakers and hospital systems have called for Abbott to enact a statewide stay-at-home order, pointing to it as the most effective step to ensure Texas’ hospital systems won’t be overwhelmed by a surge in cases. Nationwide, more than 30 governors have already taken such a step for their states.
In a statement Tuesday, Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat from Grand Prairie and chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said that he believes the new statewide mandates amount “to a step in the right direction” and essentially create a statewide stay-at-home order.
“This can serve as a good baseline for counties that had none in place, even if it is less than what other counties have already done,” Turner said in the statement. “However, his decision apparently overrules counties that have limited gatherings of more than ten in places of worship, which could pose a serious health risk to any congregation that chooses to not require video or tele-conferencing services in the weeks ahead. We need to learn more about how this order will co-exist with stronger, local orders and we’ll look to local leaders for guidance on that question.”
As of noon Tuesday, Abbott said that there have been at least 3,266 confirmed cases across 122 counties, 41 COVID-19 related deaths and 42,922 Texans that have been tested. Abbott said of the hospital beds available in Texas for COVID-19 patients, only 2.4% are currently occupied.
“Most of these numbers very importantly were the result of personal interactions in the state of Texas before the distancing practices that have gone in place the last couple of weeks,” Abbott said.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 3:17 PM.
