What the heck took Tarrant, Fort Worth leaders so long on coronavirus restrictions?
Wednesday brought the clearest evidence yet that public officials in Tarrant County moved too slowly to order the closure of businesses to slow the spread of coronavirus.
And it came, ironically, from those officials themselves.
Tarrant County and the city of Fort Worth announced their toughest restrictions yet on public gatherings, ordering bars, gyms and other institutions to close, limiting restaurants to takeout and drive-through service and allowing no more than 50 people in one spot.
It was a drastic change from what Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price announced Tuesday, which was a significant tightening from Monday. That ‘s a pretty clear indication that the latest restrictions should have been in place sooner.
Put another way, it took Tarrant County nearly 48 hours to catch up with Dallas. Tarrant leaders will cringe at that comparison, arguing that Dallas County is much different. We all love to think so, in terms of the cities’ old rivalries, but in what matters in a pandemic, they are twins — both have large, mobile populations spread across many cities, and lots of movement between the two counties.
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Officials have pointed to the moment when “community transmission,” meaning that the virus is being passed among people here, not just caught by people who have gone elsewhere, was confirmed as the key point they decided to increase restrictions. County Judge Glen Whitley noted that when that happened Monday morning, local officials “began discussing ramp-up.”
Did they think Tarrant County, with its population of 2 million and part of the fourth-largest metro area in the country, was somehow going to avoid community transmission? Instead of waiting for confirmation, they should have been proactive.
Both indicated Wednesday that they understand, if belatedly, that Fort Worth isn’t in a vacuum. Price said that battling the virus has to be a “regional approach,” and Whitley said officials are “trying to work collectively together and not keep all kinds of variety all over the place.”
Price has gotten much criticism for the city’s approach, but it’s Whitley whose actions are most baffling. He has explained that as county judge, he doesn’t have the legal authority to order businesses to close. But that contradicts a direct reading of state emergency law, which says a county judge can “control the movement of persons and the occupancy of premises” within a disaster area.
Whitley’s second explanation, made Tuesday in an interview with WFAA-TV, was that “this is not a deadly disease,” although he added that “yes, there are folks dying.”
The leading federal expert on infectious disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci has noted that this coronavirus strain appears to be 10 times deadlier than seasonal flu.
Leaders appear motivated by a desire to minimize the impact on local businesses. That’s a good goal; Tarrant County’s business-friendly atmosphere is a key to the area’s booming growth and will be crucial to recovery from the virus’ effects.
But the true way to cushion the blow is to slow the spread of the disease. Failure to take the right steps in the early phases will extend the pain, leading to more deaths and longer disruptions. Economic disaster is all but inevitable. Right now, the focus is on saving lives, not saving jobs.
Our hope is that by moving ahead from the debate on restaurants and bars to concentrate on stores, gyms, malls and other gathering spots, Tarrant County will finally get ahead of the curve.
It will be hard, with the virus clearly spreading here now, to know how much these belated steps helped in the end. And we may never know how much better it could have been.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 5:50 PM.