Are More Restrictions Coming to North Texas?

With the pandemic growing direr by the day in North Texas, some may be wondering if any more restrictions are coming and what might trigger them.

Additional restrictions took effect Dec. 3 in North Texas after the hospital region the area is in, reached an average of 15% of all hospitalizations being COVID-related for 15 days.

More than month later, that number stands at more 25%.

“There's not a lot of consumer confidence when you have numbers like this and hospitalizations like this,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

Want to Get on a Vaccine Waitlist?

County health departments have launched waitlists for adults 16 years old and over.

You can register to recieve the vaccination in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties. Links are below:

Waitlist Links: Collin - Search Waitlist | Dallas | Denton | Tarrant

You do not need to be a resident of the county to register for a COVID-19 vaccine in that county -- registration is open to anyone in Texas. For those without internet access, Tarrant County is also taking registrations by phone at 817-248-6299. In Dallas County, call the DCHHS vaccine hotline at 1-855-IMMUNE9 (1-855-466-8639). In Denton County, call 940-349-2585.

For a more detailed breakdown of who is included in each priority group in Texas, see this page from the Texas DSHS.

Under current restrictions, capacity is limited to 50% at businesses including restaurants, gyms and stores.

And, no matter how high hospitalizations go, no additional restrictions can take effect because none are outlined under Governor Abbott's executive orders.

Judge Jenkins said the county’s public health experts all point to bars as being super-spreaders.

In the past few months, about 3,000 bars in Texas have been reclassified by the state as restaurants, allowing them to remain open.

“They're super-spreader locations, unfortunately, I wish they weren't. [We’ve] got a lot of good bar owners and employees but that's the one business that our doctors are saying needs to be closed now,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins said people should focus on what doctors say is safe rather than what's legal.

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*Map locations are approximate, central locations for the city and are not meant to indicate where actual infected people live.

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