CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) UPDATE:
RE-OPENING TEXAS
June 5, 2020
Dear Friends,
We hope you and your families are staying safe and well. It’s been a few weeks since our last COVID-19 update, so we wanted to send another message with the latest information you and your family need to know.
RE-OPENING TEXAS
Yesterday, Governor Abbott announced Phase 3 of the re-opening of Texas. As with previous phases, the Phase 3 plan is based on the advice and support of the four doctors on the Strike Force to Open Texas medical team. Phase 3 begins immediately.
Effective June 3:
• All businesses currently operating at 25% capacity can expand their occupancy to 50% with certain exceptions.
• Bars and similar establishments may increase their capacity to 50% as long as patrons are seated.
• Restaurants may expand their maximum table size from 6 to 10 persons.
• Amusement parks and carnivals in counties with less than 1,000 confirmed positive cases may open at 50% capacity.
Effective June 12:
• Restaurants may expand their occupancy levels to 75%.
Effective June 19:
• Amusement parks and carnivals in counties with more than 1,000 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 may open at 50% capacity.
ADDITIONAL OPENINGS:
Business that previously have been able to operate at 100% capacity may continue to do so. These include:
• Businesses providing CISA services, religious services such as a church or house of worship, operations performed by local government, child care services, youth camps, and recreational sports programs for youth and adults.
In addition to authorizing all businesses at 50% indoor capacity, the executive order generally authorizes unlimited outdoor capacity limits, subject to appropriate social distancing. The following, however, are still subject to an outdoor limit of 50% of the normal operating limits:
• Professional, collegiate and similar sporting events, swimming pools, waterparks, museums and libraries, zoos, aquariums and rodeos and equestrian events.
Outdoor gatherings estimated to exceed 500 people that are not outlined in the Executive Order may be further restricted by a local county judge or mayor.
The Governor has stated that people should continue to follow certain protocols as outlined by DSHS. For details and a full list of guidelines, openings, and relevant dates, visit http://open.texas.gov.
TESTING
The City of Dallas announced that the two major community testing sites for COVID-19 have scaled back their hours of operation to comply with the city’s curfew. Testing at the American Airlines Center will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The site at Ellis Field House in the Red Bird area will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit dallascityhall.com/covid19.
As of 6/03, a total of 68,271 confirmed COVID-19 cases had been reported across 232 of our 254 counties.
Between May 26 and June 2, over 45% of new coronavirus cases came from jails or prisons, meat packing plants and nursing homes. There are currently 1,487 Texans hospitalized due to COVID-19, 20,679 active cases in the state, and 45,858 Texans are estimated to have recovered. On June 1st, Texas had the fewest COVID-19 fatalities since March 30th, the fewest Texans testing positive for COVID-19 in the past 6 weeks, and the 2nd most recoveries from COVID in the country. Governor Abbott announced that in the first half of May, Texas has administered more COVID-19 tests than in all of March and April combined. We are now testing up to 25,000 Texans each day. Detailed information on case counts, hospitalization rates, trends, and more can be found on the Texas Health and Human Services tracker.
RESOURCES FOR TEXAS WORKERS & BUSINESSES
Texas Workforce Commission currently has all 8 of their call centers are up and running and staffed by over 1,000 people. On Monday, the Department of Labor notified the Texas Workforce Commission that the state triggered State Extended Benefits. This program provides federal reimbursement to the state for up to an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits.
• Our office has been assisting those with questions about eligibility and the claims process and helping make sure claims are handled quickly and correctly. If you need assistance with TWC, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at the contact information provided at the end of this email.
As a reminder, we’ve set up a COVID-19 webpage in coordination with the United Way. We encourage you visit the page to submit your questions, requests for assistance or to learn more about how to help those in our community who are deeply impacted by this crisis.
I’ll send further updates and information as needed. In the meantime, should you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email or call us at (469) 554-0428.
Sincerely,
