CORONAVIRUS
‘We may well be in the eye of the hurricane. There’s still no cure, no vaccine,’ county leader warns
Harris County Judge Hidalgo extends distancing guidelines.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Thursday issued new guidelines urging residents to stay home when possible, even as Gov. Greg Abbott reopens most businesses.
The extended Stay Home, Work Safe order is in effect through June 10, though it bears little resemblance to the original directive in March that closed most businesses and ordered residents to remain at home.
San Antonio and Bexar County extended their own stay-home guidelines through June 4.
Abbott’s orders reopening Texas businesses override any rules from local officials. The governor also barred cities and counties from enforcing facemask requirements, as Hidalgo had attempted.
The county judge said her order reminds residents to keep practicing social distancing.
“I don’t want the community to get the message that we’re done,” Hidalgo said. “We may well be in the eye of the hurricane. There’s still no cure, no vaccine.”
Starting Friday, the governor’s phased reopening plan will include bars, which will be permitted to operate at 25 percent capacity with table-only seating. Even with those rules, Hidalgo said the wise choice may be for residents to stay away.
“Will I be going to the
club? No,” she said.
Hidalgo continues to walk a fine line with Abbott. She again praised her relationship with the governor and pledged to do what she could to help his orders succeed, even as she expresses concern that he is reopening Texas too soon.
Hidalgo warned the virus could surge at any time. She announced Thursday that cases in Harris County had surpassed 10,000 since the outbreak began and deaths have exceeded 200.
Though health experts had projected the virus to peak here at the end of April before declining, Dr. Umair Shah, the county health director, said cases reached a plateau several weeks ago and have yet to significantly decrease. The risk of resurgence grows, he said, as more businesses reopen.
“It’s restaurants at 25 percent. Then it’s barber shops. Then you come back and add in nail salons… now we have bars, and restaurants at 50 percent,” Shah said. “Our concern is, from a public health standpoint, that that does not lead to a decrease in cases. That’s the key message.”
Texas Medical Center leaders on Tuesday expressed support for Abbott’s plan, acknowledging the economy cannot stay shuttered indefinitely. Some Houston health experts, however, said the governor was moving too quickly.
Harris County has not come close to exceeding its hospital capacity. The region has experienced a far milder outbreak than those in New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.
Hidalgo on Thursday also unveiled a series of guidelines meant to protect employees returning to their jobs and help businesses create safe workplaces. They include staggering shifts to avoid congregating workers, taking employees’ temperatures, providing face coverings and never requiring anyone to come to work if they feel ill.
Retail firms should clean and disinfect shops before reopening and give employees a break every hour so they may wash their hands or take other safety precautions, she said. Employers also should keep attendance of all workers on-site each day, so contract tracing can easily occur in the event of an outbreak.
State Rep. Armando Walle, whom Hidalgo appointed the county’s coronavirus recovery czar, said it is hoped the worker guidelines will prevent outbreaks like those discovered at meatpacking plants in the Texas Panhandle.
Hidalgo said the public also can play a role in encouraging business to protect workers: If a restaurant is not taking safety measures, she suggested, eat somewhere else.