Reopening cancellations begin in North Texas after COVID-19 hospitalizations remain above 15% for 7th day in a row

DALLAS – After seven consecutive days of COVID-19 patients occupying more than 15% of available hospital beds in the North Texas area, companies will be forced to further limit capacity or temporarily close as the restorations take effect.

That 15% threshold, which equates to about 2,400 people in hospitals in North Texas, is the threshold Governor Greg Abbott set in his emergency orders.

North Texas leaders will now receive a letter from the state advising them of some cancellations of Governor Abbott’s phased reopening.

Elective surgeries will again be suspended. Restaurants, retail stores and gyms must reduce capacity to 50% and bars must close.

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The hospital region includes: Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Fannin, Grayson, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant and Wise counties.

In Dallas County, Dallas Code Enforcement and Dallas Fire-Rescue are preparing for rollbacks by increasing patrols starting Friday.

City of Dallas officials said the majority of businesses were complying with the orders, with violators exceeding capacity by less than an additional 10 people.

These cancellations of state-imposed restrictions will now last until the hospitalization rate in North Texas falls below 15% for seven consecutive days.

As of Thursday, more than 15.6% of hospital patients in our 19-county area are coronavirus patients.

RELATED: Interactive map of COVID-19 cases in Texas

Reopening discounts boil down to the capacity of hospital beds.

“There are some [hospitals] which can increase the bed capacity. There are others who really can’t because they don’t have the staff to staff them. And there are some in some rural areas that are already full, ”explained Steve Love, CEO / Chairman of the DFW Hospital Council.

Love said some hospitals in the area are working to increase capacity. Others have only a little leeway.

“Our staff are exhausted. We have people who work double hours, ”he said. “Do they have the capacity to expand and add more beds to their existing campus? Yes, but again you must have the staff to fill these beds.

The order also maintains that hospitals must suspend elective surgeries, but Love said those surgeries can be performed off campus.

“A lot of them have surgery centers, they have outpatient offices, etc.,” he explained.

“All of the hospital systems are telling us that they’ve passed the highest levels they’ve seen or very close to,” said Dr Philip Huang, Dallas County director of health.

As the rapid coronavirus outbreak continues, hospitals are asking the state for help.

JPS Hospital in Fort Worth said in the next two weeks the state will send about 45 nurses. About 15 of them are intensive care nurses.

Dallas Parkland Hospital currently has 189 temporary workers, 15 of whom have been sent by the state. This consists of nurses and other staff working in hospitals, prisons and testing sites. 102 others are itinerant nurses from an agency.

Texas Health and Human Services will send a letter to county judges advising them of the action plan.

Dallas County officials said they expected to receive the letter Thursday night or Friday.

Tarrant County reported nearly 1,900 new cases and 884 hospitalizations Thursday, which also means automatic rollbacks for the region.

“This has now happened, and it will now be up to the individual cities as well as the TABC to begin enforcing the governor’s order in any way they choose to do so,” the Tarrant County Judge said, Glen Whitley.

But while cancellations are meant to be automatic, there is some confusion among Tarrant County officials as to exactly when they officially take place or when they will be implemented.

“I guess it probably won’t happen now or immediately, but it will probably come into effect tomorrow,” Whitley said. “But that’s one of the things that is unclear in the Governor’s order as to once that trigger is hit. When does it become effective. “

One of the flashbacks includes the cancellation of elective surgeries.

Cook Children’s Medical Center tweeted Thursday that its elective surgeries are not being canceled, saying it has the capacity and staff at the hospital to prosecute them and that the governor’s orders allow certain exemptions.

That could change if hospitals continue to fill up and cases continue to rise.

“We’re not too far from Christmas so we have to be careful,” Whitley said. “Do the things you feel are necessary to protect your family and be aware when you are away. Be aware of the people around you. “

The order of restoration coincides with the start of the National Finals rodeo at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Thursday, as well as several events in downtown Fort Worth and the Stockyards.

Billy Bob’s in the Stockyards has watch evenings and evening concerts scheduled for the next nine days.

Billy Bob’s general manager Marty Travis says he has kept his occupancy rate capped at 37% in recent weeks.

“Our capacity is 6,000 people. So when we could half open it was 3,000. I really felt like 3,000 was way too crowded, ”Travis said. “So we didn’t even deal with that because I thought it would be suicide.

The business reopened in August after being granted permission to operate as a restaurant. It has remained a popular concert hall over the weeks and one of the few that actually works at this time.

“We have a lot of protocols in place that allow us to be safe and to feel like we’re doing it the right way and we have a lot of people coming to town and coming from outside our home. region ”, says the general manager.

Travis says there are temperature controls for staff, guests, and performers. Masks are mandatory when they are not at their table.

“People did a great job. People have been very receptive, ”he said. “There were two or three that you have to throw out because they refuse to be a rule.”

Billy Bobs will be hosting concerts every night at 10 am for the next week and a half. Some of them are already sold out with the reduced number of seats available.

And while it’s still six months away, Travis is hopeful those flashbacks won’t affect Billy Bob’s 40th birthday party he’s currently planning for April.

The annual Grapevine Parade of Lights is something Main Street business owners look forward to.

It’s usually one of the busiest nights of the season in Grapevine. But this year, flashbacks are the concern of many business owners trying to survive.

“We couldn’t have this conversation here on the sidewalk if it was normal because the sidewalks would just be full,” said Stephanie Reed, who runs Farina’s Winery and Cafe.

It’s normally a crowded crowd. But this year, it’s a reverse parade, where spectators drive by to see stationary tanks. It has been reduced, in an effort to minimize crowds during the pandemic.

“It’s a roller coaster, I think for everyone,” added Reed.

She said Metroplex companies were feeling the effects of COVID-19

“I don’t want to see anyone lose their business because of this,” she said.

“They basically shut down their business for half of this year, if not more,” said Jon Powell, who runs Hop and Sting Brewing Co. “It’s going to be very, very, very, very difficult to get back on your feet. “

Hop and Sting Brewing Company is one of 2,800 bars in the state that the TABC says have been allowed to reclassify as a restaurant in order to stay open. Still, Powell believes the bars have been abused.

“Because restaurants were able to stay open, retail stores were able to stay open, but because we sell alcohol as our main source of income, we were deemed unsafe for COVID despite what we might. have as conditions on our site, ”he added.

Powell legally combined his brewery with food trucks, so food sales exceeded alcohol sales.

Not all bars have this opportunity.

“It really doesn’t make a lot of sense that we are distinguished just because we make more money with alcohol than other establishments,” added Powell.

The holiday season is different in 2020 and flashbacks are another big blow to businesses that rely on holiday income.

“We all started decorating a bit early just because 2020 hasn’t been our favorite year,” Reed said. “So we try to keep the last two months as happy as possible.”

For the tighter restrictions to be lifted, the hospital’s capacity for the virus must be below 15% for seven consecutive days.

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