Governor Abbott announced today Texas is moving to Phase II of reopening.
Monday, May 18 Childcare centers may open. Massage and personal care salons may open with 6 foot spacing between work stations. Youth clubs like scouting, Girls, Inc and FFA may reopen with indoor meetings limited to 10 people maintaining social distancing.
On Friday, May 22, restaurants may increase their capacity to 50% while bars and bowling centers may open to 25%. Offices can open with ten employees or 25% of their capacity. All these businesses and venues require social distancing and safety measures. This includes sanitizing, wearing masks and avoiding crowded spaces.
Beginning May 31, sports camps, including little league may resume. Parents can be spectators if they follow social distancing guidelines. Summer camps, day and overnight camps, may also resume.
Starting on June 1, some sports can return with restrictions, including golf, baseball, racing. Parents may watch youth sports if they maintain appropriate distances. School districts will be able to offer summer school after June 1 with social distancing. Professional sports teams may apply to reopen without spectators.
Areas around Amarillo will be held back from phase II for one more week because of the surge in cases in that region primarily from infections in meat processing plants. Areas around El Paso will be held back one week because of capacity in local hospitals becoming concerning. These one-week delays will allow the Amarillo COVID-19 surge team to achieve results and the El Paso’s hospital capacity to increase.
The Governor cited a steady reduction in the percentage of those being tested, testing positive. On April 13, the positive testing rate was 13.86%. It has steadily declined, and on May 17 the rate was 4.97%. Hospital cases in Texas related to COVID-19 have remained steady. Texas’ hospital capacity has also been constant and adequate.
The Governor announced that a full list of businesses that can open is available at www.gov.texas.gov/opentexas. With few exceptions, this website offers guidelines both for the operators of businesses and customers.
Based on earlier relaxing of restrictions by the Governor, gyms, non-essential manufacturing, and pools were allowed to open Monday, May 18. However, none are required to open, and many will not. If they open, they will have to adhere to strict guidelines set out by the Governor, including operating at 25% capacity and observing social distancing. Strict sanitizing guidelines are also in place. Hair, nail and tanning salons were able to open May 8 with similar restrictions.
The Governor closed the press conference with the message to all Texans that it is up to us how fast the state can reopen. Abbott believes if we follow social distancing guidelines, wear masks and gloves, sanitize regularly and wash our hands frequently, then we will be able to open Texas more quickly.