“Stay at home” orders at the state, county, and city levels are expiring at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, April 30, but life won’t be returning to normal while the COVID-19 virus remains a threat.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday issued new standards for Phase One reopening the Texas economy and said he would let his previous order expire on schedule.
Clarendon Mayor Sandy Skelton and Donley County Judge John Howard said their local orders will also expire to follow the governor’s lead.
Under Phase One, retail stores, restaurant dining rooms, and movie theatres can reopen but must take precautions, follow social distancing guidelines, and limit occupancy to 25 percent. Museums and libraries can reopen under the same standards but cannot allow any “hands on” exhibits to open. Sole proprietors can also return to work, the governor said.
Bars, barbershops, cosmetology salons, and nail salons still cannot open at this time.
The governor said, if things go well, occupancy can be expanded to 50 percent with the implementation of Phase Two on May 18. The state needs two weeks of data to confirm there are no flare ups of COVID-19, Abbott said.
The new order also allows golf and tennis games to be played and authorizes licensed health care providers to return to work.
The governor mentioned Donley County by name, along with Moore County, as examples of small counties that can have rapid spread of the disease.
Moore County’s numbers COVID-19 positives have grown dramatically in the last week, while Donley’s numbers seem to have leveled off.
Enforcement of Abbott’s orders will fall to local authorities and state licensing regulators.
City Administrator David Dockery said Monday afternoon that municipal functions will be reopening this week, and Mayor Skelton addressed how the changing situation will impact the city’s current projects.
“Although ‘construction’ is considered an essential business, the City halted work on its two construction projects, the Aquatic Center and the replacement of water pipes throughout the City, in early April as the workers were coming to Clarendon on a daily basis from Amarillo and Dallas,” Skelton said.
“We wanted to reduce the chances of community spread of COVID-19. However, it is likely that those two projects can begin again in early May provided the City and the construction companies work closely together to comply with the guidelines from the Governor and the President. All parties have agreed to implement daily procedures to comply.”
For the full text of the state’s plan for Phase One, visit gov.Texas.gov/opentexas.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.