Erath County judge issues statement on Covid-19, halting elective surgeries and keeping bars closed.
Updated: Dec 8, 2020
BTS News special Report
Erath County Judge Alfonso Campos emailed the following letter to Beneath the Surface News on Monday following a request for information about the county’s response to a new order from the governor to rollback openings.
The following letter is what he issued:
Erath County and its Mayors received notice from the Department of State Health and Human Services (DSHS) that our Trauma Service Area E (TSA) has for seven consecutive days, exceeded the threshold in which the number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients as a percentage of total hospital capacity exceeds 15%.
15% is the limit imposed by Governor Abbott’s latest Executive Order (GA-32) to address areas with high hospitalizations.
TSA-E has for the past seven days, exceeded 15%, making it an area with high hospitalizations as defined by GA-32.
As a result, effective immediately, all restaurants, retail stores, office buildings, manufacturing facilities, gyms and exercise facilities and classes, museums, and libraries in all counties in Trauma Service Area E are required to return to maximum 50 percent occupancy levels, except in any county that separately qualifies for the greater occupancy levels because it has minimal cases of COVID-19 under the Department of State Health Services attestation process.
Trauma Service Area E includes the following counties: Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Hood, Johnson County, Navarro, Parker, Somervell, Wise, Cooke, Denton, Erath, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, Palo Pinto, Rockwall County and Tarrant.
Hospitals in the Trauma Service Area are required to discontinue elective surgeries.
Additionally, Erath County had previously filed a certification form with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) and opted to open bars and similar establishments in the county.
Because Erath County is located within a high hospitalization TSA, Erath County is ineligible to remain open for bars.
For more information, call the Erath County judge’s office at 254-965-1452 ext. 1415.