Photo by Roschetzky Photography
Governor Greg Abbott says phase one of reopening the state economy will begin on Friday. While more retailers and other businesses will be able to open at 25% capacity, others will not. They include public swimming pools, bars, gyms, cosmetology salons, massage establishments, interactive amusement venues like bowling alleys and video arcades, and tattoo and piercing studios.
“We do have strategies to avoid having customers come in and aggregate together. The strategy would be to have one customer in per salon worker,” says Abbot
The governor is hoping that if all goes well in phase one that those businesses could at least partially reopen in phase two, which could start in mid-May.
Thousands of businesses in Texas are ready to get back to work. Texas Association of Business CEO Jeff Mosley says companies have done what was asked of them, and the governor’s announcement this week is a huge sigh of relief.
“Texas has really complied fully with all the health practices on setting down and putting our businesses into a slumber;” Mosley believes Abbotts plan is balanced and well thought out.
While certain industries do begin opening on Friday, a number of local businesses are expected to remain closed by choice. LeAnn Mueller owns La Barbecue on Cesar Chavez tells CBS Austin she would like to open but she’s not comfortable with the idea,
“I would not put customers at risk, especially since everybody stands in line so close together,” says Mueller.
She’ll wait until the governor rolls out the next phase of the plan before making a decision. Others say they no longer have the staff to restart operations. Instead of opening, they’re going to have to shift into hiring mode.
Governor Abbott’s order to reopen the state will override local orders from Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt. Adler says local governments will watch the infection rates and they’ll lock things back down if necessary.
“We know we can do it, we know it has a relatively quick result. We could do it again if the governor has overshot his mark,” says Adler.
Abbot’s order will also eliminate Travis County’s mandatory mask requirement and businesses should refuse all customers who try to enter a store without their face covered.
42 people have now died from COVID-19 in Travis County. Out of the 1,464 cases, 399 have recovered while 71 remained hospitalized. Men between the ages of 30 and 39 account for the most coronavirus cases in the county followed very closely by women in that same age range.
With more testing available now in Williamson County, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has seen a steady increase along with the number of recoveries. Officials are reporting 287 cases this morning, 144 recoveries and six deaths. The county’s hospital system has remained well intact. Only 35 patients have ever required hospitalization since the first case of coronavirus was discovered.
Even though most people are stuck at home, Hays County stay-at-home order is doing little to deter burglars. The sheriff’s office says it’s seen a spike in burglaries of garages, sheds and vehicles. Sheriff Gary Cutler says burglary is a crime of opportunity, and many of the victims left their property unlocked or unsecured.
Austin activists are calling for a slew of public safety resignations following last week’s officer-involved shooting; starting with the police chief, Brian Manley. Austin Justice Coalition’s Chas Moore says Manley has failed in being transparent with the community.
“There’s many things that we try to do in terms of making sure we have a policy that was transparent, making sure we have body camera policy that was transparent. There has always been a push back,” says Moore.
They also want to see Manley’s chief of staff demoted, the assistant city manager in charge of public safety removed, as well as the city legal team that handles police cases.
Austin Public Health and Del Medical School have partnered up to ask for donations to help protect the homeless from COVID-19. Officials with Dell Medical say the money will help give shelter to the homeless who are dealing with symptoms of 19 but who are also being turned away from other shelters right now.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-4-28-20
