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El Paso’s business began to reopen on Friday, less than 24 hours after an appeals court overturned the county judge’s closure order as the city deals with one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the country. The Saturday, the city of El Paso said reported 1,512 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 additional deaths.
The 8th El Paso Court of Appeals, made up of three judges, issued rulings Thursday and Friday that County Judge Ricardo Samaniego could not replace Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Oct. 7 order on the reopening . On October 29, Samaniego issued a month-long shutdown order for non-essential businesses, but it was challenged by a group of restaurateurs and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In Majority Opinion 2-1, the judges said: “Just as an official cannot have two masters, the public cannot have two sets of rules to follow, especially in the event of a pandemic and when those rules result in criminal sanctions having a huge impact on people’s lives and livelihoods. ”
In a statement, Paxton called it an “exceptional decision” and called Samaniego a “tyrant”. “I will not let rogue political subdivisions try to kill small businesses and holiday gatherings through illegal executive decrees,” Paxton wrote on Twitter.
Samaniego responded to Paxton in a tweet saying he’s “so unhappy that Paxton the Attorney General of ‘Texas’ finds the opportunity to rejoice instead of coming to El Paso to walk by my side through the mobile morgues with 144 El Pasoans ; or send condolences to the families of its 741 constituents who died from COVID-19. ”
He also said on Friday that “to say that I am disappointed with the court’s decision would be a huge understatement,” according to KDBC, a CBS El Paso affiliate. He reminded residents of the city that state restrictions are still in place, which limit non-essential businesses to 50% of their capacity while keeping bars fully closed and forcing restaurants to close at 9 p.m. Gatherings remain. limited to 10 people maximum and face masks are always compulsory.
According to KDBC, some businesses reopened almost immediately on Friday. The restaurant owner told KDBC she understands the pandemic is serious, but they also have employees to watch out for.
“It’s almost a circus. Every day you wake up wondering ‘can you open? Can you close? “Can you make take out? Can you bring people in?” She said. “It made it hard to plan ahead. You know, budget wise, being able to manage that so that everyone is making money and making a living the way we all deserve.”
El Paso has faced an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with the total number of cases in the city rising from more than 30,000 on October 14 to more than 72,000 on November 14. The county has the third highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state, where earlier this week the the total number of coronavirus infections has exceeded one million.
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