Coronavirus In Texas: Tarrant County Alters Shutdown Orders To Coincide With State
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Tarrant County altered its shutdown orders slightly Tuesday, but did not make face coverings mandatory like Dallas County did.
The county judge also indicated he did not expect restrictions to end when the current order expires next week.
"And I think that's something that hopefully will come in the next three to four weeks," said Judge Glen Whitley. "But that doesn't mean we can let up right now."
Whitley said he's keeping a careful eye on hospital capacity as an indicator of when to start to ease restrictions.
Public health director Vinny Taneja said he would also like to see a 14-day drop in confirmed cases of COVID-19, as well as an extended drop in people showing COVID-like symptoms.
County data showed 48% of hospital beds were available still in the county Tuesday.
The rate of spread of the virus had slowed in the past week, to the point where it would take 15 days for cases to double.
Asked about making face coverings mandatory, Whitley said he was going to continue to let everyone use common sense.
He said he has started wearing a mask when he goes to stores and isn't sure he can maintain distancing from others.
Commissioners adjusted county orders slightly to better coincide with orders from Governor Greg Abbott.
It was amended to say the county will not prohibit anything expressly authorized by the governor's orders.
It also clarified the table of essential businesses, adding real estate showings, car dealerships, car rentals, firearms suppliers, shooting ranges and hotels to the list of business allowed to be open.