Dallas Bars, Theaters, Gyms Closed; Restaurants Limited Due To COVID-19 Pandemic
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - In what Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is calling a "gut wrenching decision," all bars, lounges, theaters, clubs will close for at least seven days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Dallas does not bow down to fear -- ever," said Johnson, who admitted he lost sleep over this latest, drastic step city leaders are taking in efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Additionally, all restaurant are limited to curbside, drive-thru, takeout and delivery.
"As of right now, Dallas has the most aggressive rules for minimizing and slowing the spread of COVID-19," said Johnson. "While most cases are mild, what we have seen worldwide is that it can be more lethal than the flu."
Latest Coronavirus News | Coronavirus Resources
City Manager T.C. Broadnax assured the community that a panel of medical experts and counterparts in other cities have convinced leaders this is the right thing to do.
Friday afternoon Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) reported five additional positive cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus.
Last week Dallas County issued a state of local disaster declaration to help contain and mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins also weighed in on Monday afternoon, saying that he is asking Governor Greg Abbott to step in and lead on closing bars, theaters, clubs and lounges in neighboring counties, too.
"We need to hunker down and get through this," said Jenkins.
Dallas County Director of Health and Human Services Dr. Phillip Huang added "This is all our responsibility to do our part, and we will overcome this."
Since public laboratories in North Texas are no longer required to send "presumptive positive" samples to the Centers for Disease Control, respiratory samples positive for COVID-19 in a public lab are considered "positive" with no need for further testing.
The latest positive cases include:
- Man in his 40's
- Man in his 50's
- Woman in her 50's
- Man in his 60's
- Man in his 70's
Officials say none of the latest cases require patient hospitalization and all of the individuals are self-isolating at their homes.
Three of the newest cases are residents who live within the City of Dallas. One patient resides in the City of Farmers Branch, and another patient lives out-of-state.
The new reports up the number of presumptive positive cases in Dallas County to 19 -- with four of those cases belonging to residents who actually live outside the county.
