Restaurants are expected to reduce capacity and bars will close now that North Texas hospitalizations have surpassed a threshold set by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Under executive order GA-32, nonessential businesses must reduce their capacity if coronavirus patients account for more than 15% of a trauma service area's hospitalizations for seven consecutive days.
The businesses affected by the rollback include: restaurants, retail stores, office buildings, manufacturing facilities, gyms, exercise facilities, museums and libraries, according to a Dallas County press release.
The region will be required to limit capacity until there are seven consecutive days in which COVID-19 hospitalizations don’t exceed a rate of 15%.
Of the 22 trauma service areas in Texas, six others so far have surpassed the COVID-19 hospitalization threshold implemented by Gov. Abbott. They include: Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, Waco and Laredo.
The Trauma Service Area that covers 25 counties in the Texas Panhandle now leads the state with the highest percentage of coronavirus patients. They account for more than 37% of all hospitalizations in the region. Medical officials in Amarillo are confronting this trend firsthand.
In the Amarillo area, COVID-19 patients have exceeded 15% of all hospitalizations for more than a month now.
There are now more than 1,280,000 cases and 22,500 deaths in the state. In North Texas, more than 289,000 cases and 2,500 deaths have been reported.
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