Tarrant County Commissioners Court | Contributed photo
Tarrant County Commissioners Court | Contributed photo
Tarrant County commissioners have started discussing when parts of the economy should start to reopen in the county in the wake of the COVID-19 shutdown and said it should happen in gradual phases.
“As we begin to look at coming out of it, we need to look at the data and let them tell us how to lessen the restrictions a little bit,” Tarrant County Judge Glenn Whitley said, according to Fox 4. Whitley and the Tarrant County Public Health Director Dr. Vinny Taneja said reopening the economy should follow medical experts advice and data, but likely won't happen before the end of April.
As of April 25, Texas reported 24,631 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 648 deaths. Tarrant County has 1,836 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Whitley said early stages of removing restrictions could be small changes.
“If it brings back the restaurants, maybe it’s only at 50 percent capacity. Maybe all of the employees have to be wearing masks,” Whitley said, according to Fox 4. “And maybe the customers, if my wife and I go in to eat, maybe we have to have our temperatures taken.”
No matter the decided timeline for reopening the economy, Whitley said it has to be consistent with surrounding cities to ensure social distancing isn't lost.
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