Name: Bars still closed in Texas, but Abbott eases COVID limits on businesses, elective surgeries and nursing home visits
Brand: dallasnews.com
SKU: dallasnews-com-191
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Bars still closed in Texas, but Abbott eases COVID limits on businesses, elective surgeries and nursing home visits

preview

12:20 PM on Sep 17, 2020 CDT — Updated at 2:52 PM on Sep 17, 2020 CDTUpdated at 2:52 p.m.: to include reactions from restaurant and small business lobby groups, Abbott critics from left and right.AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday eased his coronavirus restrictions on many businesses and allowed a resumption of elective surgeries in North Texas and most other parts of the state.He also announced that, starting next Thursday, the state will allow more visitors at nursing homes that meet certain protocols.The Republican governor, though, did not reopen bars. They’ve been closed since late June, when a spike in COVID-19 cases forced Abbott to backtrack on relaxing restrictions.“If we fully reopen Texas without limits without safe practices, it could lead to an unsustainable increase in COVID that would require the possibility of being forced to ratchet back down,” Abbott said at a Capitol news conference.“The better approach is to safely take strategic steps that help Texans return to jobs, while also protecting them from COVID-19.”Under Abbott’s new plan, starting Monday, these businesses and facilities that are currently limited to 50% capacity can go to 75% -- if they’re in a hospital region that for at least seven consecutive days has 15% or less of its hospital beds filled with COVID-19 patients:· Restaurants· Retail establishments· Office buildings· Manufacturing facilities· Libraries· Museums· GymsIn those areas, effective immediately, he’s also lifting his second prohibition of elective surgeries this year.Of 22 so-called Trauma Service Areas or hospital regions in Texas, the only ones where coronavirus patients comprise more than 15% of all hospitalized patients are the lower Rio Grande Valley, Laredo and Victoria. They will not be able to resume elective procedures and expand businesses' capacity to 75% until the COVID patient share of their hospital census gets to 15% or less for seven consecutive days.In the Dallas-Fort Worth region, the percentage of hospital patients with COVID currently is 6.3%, down from an earlier peak of 17%.Abbott’s statewide mask order remains in effect, at least in counties with more than 20 active cases of COVID-19. So does his ban on outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people, without prior approval from a mayor or county judge.“COVID does still exist, and most Texans remain susceptible,” he said.On nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, the Health and Human Services Commission said Thursday that, beginning Sept. 24, each resident will be allowed to designate up to two “essential caregivers” who can visit, provided they’ve tested negative in the previous 14 days and have been trained in proper use of personal protective equipment.However, the loosening only would occur at facilities that meet certain standards, such as having no outbreak of the disease, Abbott said. At approved facilities that have installed plexiglass safety barriers, general visitors will be allowed inside for interactions with residents, but with no physical contact, the commission said.The move is “wonderful news” for nursing home residents and their families, said the commission’s executive commissioner, Cecile Erwin Young.“There’s a real loneliness and isolation that happens,” she said of the prolonged ban on visitors.Related:Abbott’s move was dismissed by some libertarians and staunch conservatives as too halting a reopening, at the same time it drew fire from public-health experts and Democrats.Former Irving GOP Rep. Matt Rinaldi, a fierce critic of Abbott’s COVID orders, commended his new reliance on hospitalizations only, and not numbers of cases. But “schools will continue to operate like prison camps,” he tweeted.“In sum, gave you an ever so slight portion of your life back, doubled down on shutdowns &amp; mask mandates, and ignored our children altogether, with no end in sight to this madness,” Rinaldi said.In sum, gave you an ever so slight portion of your life back, doubled down on shutdowns &amp; mask mandates, and ignored our children altogether, with no end in sight to this madness. — Matt Rinaldi (@MattRinaldiTX)Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins warned that with Abbott’s latest changes, “it will be more difficult to find indoor experiences with at least six foot distancing and it will be up to patrons to find the right establishment and time of day to patronize them safely.”The county still recommends that people avoid bars and “use outdoor workouts in lieu of gyms,” he reaction was generally favorable, though.Annie Spillman, state director of the small business group NFIB, said in a written statement that Abbott’s fine-tuning of his coronavirus orders “is the kind of common-sense response to recent trends that gives our members hope.”While capacity limits may have been needed to reduce viral spread, they took an “enormous toll” on business owners and their workers, she said. The new relaxations “could help some businesses avoid having to close for good,” Spillman said.Emily Williams Knight, who likes to say she lobbies at the Capitol for the second largest employer in the state -- restaurants -- told reporters on a Zoom call that after landlords' deferrals of rent and Paycheck Protection Program money from Congress expired, restaurateurs are at the brink.Texas entered the year with 50,000 restaurants, and 15% have closed, said Knight, president and chief executive of the Texas Restaurant Association.“The number will go to about 30% or more if we can’t get a handle on more revenue and less restrictions,” she said.On Abbott’s move, “It is a bit of a light that our restaurants desperately need,” Knight said.For small restaurants, the freedom to go to 75% capacity, from 50%, could mean adding just one additional table, there are new and creative rebuilds under way, association officials said. Many take advantage of an Abbott guideline from June. It waives a requirement that tables be separated by at least six feet if an operator puts up a partition six feet wide and six feet tall.On Monday, restaurants also can begin to reuse condiments and menus, as long as they’re sanitized between each use.That may sound small but for some large restaurants, the menu printing costs were as much as $10,000 a week, Knight said.The association “thanks Governor Abbott for once again following Texas data and recognizing the urgent need to rebuild our economy as we continue to safeguard public health,” Knight said.But the Texas Public Interest Research Group -- , who have urged caution on reopenings until there’s a vaccine -- questioned Abbott’s move.“The governor is loosening restrictions while COVID-19 cases are still well above the levels that health professionals deem safe for reopening,” Bay Scoggin, the group’s director, said in a written statement.“Lifting restrictions too soon, especially in high-risk settings for spreading the virus like indoor dining, will prolong economic damage and risk lives unnecessarily. Instead of reopening prematurely, Governor Abbott should unleash the resources necessary to ramp up testing so that we can return to some semblance of normalcy safely.”House Democratic Caucus Chairman Chris Turner of Grand Prairie also noted big omissions.“Gov. Abbott’s press conference today was notable for what he didn’t say,” Turner said in a written statement. “There was no mention of a contact tracing program, no mention of improving the state’s unreliable data and no mention of expanding Medicaid to increase access to health care for the millions of Texans who are uninsured.”RELEASE: There Have Been 13,578 Coronavirus Deaths in Texas and 649,475 New Cases Since Governor Abbott Last Put Texans At-Risk in April"Texans need leaders who listen to doctors and experts, not buckle to pressure from right-wing lobbyists and donors." — Texas Democrats (@texasdemocrats)One problem with using hospitalizations as the main metric in reopening decisions is that younger people who test positive are less likely to get so sick they’re hospitalized -- though their age cohort has seen a rising percentage of people tested confirm they are infected.In their , scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said cases will rise in Dallas County soon. Spread may be reaccelerating in the community even if hospitalizations aren’t rising, the report said.In a White House report earlier this month, experts recommended that Texas “should continue the strong mitigation efforts statewide and strengthen mitigation efforts in university towns to decrease spread from universities to the local community.”Alarmed by spread on college campuses, the White House report said Texas leaders should “consider a further reduction in hours and occupancy limits in bars and restaurants in university counties and anywhere university and college students gather if cases begin to rise.”While Abbott did not lift his June 26 order closing bars, since then, some have taken advantage of a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission initiative that lets them be considered restaurants, as long as more than half of their sales are from food.As of Thursday, the commission received 1,707 applications for a Food and Beverage Certificate and had approved 1,159 of those.“Because bars are nationally recognized as COVID spreading locations, they are still not able to open it this time,” Abbott said. “However, it is important for them to know that we are focused on finding ways to get them open. We need to see COVID numbers continue to be contained. And we need to work with the bars on effective strategies that will ensure that when they do open, the possibility of spread of COVID is contained.”Abbott noted that restaurants can lose their liquor licenses if they don’t enforce his guideline that requires patrons to wear masks, except when they’re seated.“If they’re walking around anywhere in the restaurant, they’re supposed to have a mask on,” he said.Michael Klein, founder and president of the Texas Bar and Nightlife Alliance, though, called Abbott’s actions “unacceptable.” The governor ignores regional variations in COVID-19 data and makes “ridiculous” distinctions between establishments based on shares of sales from food, Klein said in a written statement.“For months, we’ve been told that Anti-Business Abbott needs to see sustained positivity rates below 10% and improvements on hospitalizations for bars to be given a chance at reopening,” he said. “Texas delivered. But he has not acted on this promise and it is a death sentence for thousands of small businesses.”Related:After Abbott’s first reopening of businesses in May and June, he did not require masks to be worn. He imposed a statewide mask requirement in July.In the absence of a vaccine for coronavirus, the continuing mask order is probably a key element in the governor’s strategy.Hospitalizations are still hovering at around 3,300 people per day statewide. That is about double what they were when Abbott first began reopening the state at the end of May, before the huge summer wave of infections began.And the state is still trying to get in order critical data for assessing progress, such as the “positivity rate,” the daily rate of people testing positive for coronavirus among those tested.Abbott urged Texans to continue wearing masks and engaging in hand-washing and social distancing.“A steady and significant decline in COVID-19 cases is not a sign to let up in our vigilance against the virus,” he said.Staff writer Sarah Blaskovich in Dallas contributed to this report.Related:Get the latest coronavirus updates delivered to your inbox by signing up for our exclusive newsletter.By signing up you agree to our

12:20 PM on Sep 17, 2020 CDT — Updated at 2:52 PM on Sep 17, 2020 CDTUpdated at 2:52 p.m.: to include reactions from restaurant and small business lobby groups, Abbott critics from left and right.AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday eased his coronavirus restrictions on many businesses and allowed a resumption of elective surgeries in North Texas and most other parts of the state.He also announced that, starting next Thursday, the state will allow more visitors at nursing homes that meet certain protocols.The Republican governor, though, did not reopen bars. They’ve been closed since late...

Bars still closed in Texas, but Abbott eases COVID limits on businesses, elective surgeries and nursing home visits

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS