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On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said he is ending the statewide mask mandate and allowing businesses to open to 100% capacity, effective next Wednesday, and Denton County will follow suit.
In a release, Denton County Judge Andy Eads said the county is “following the governor’s lead in reopening Texas to allow all businesses to operate at 100 percent.”
“Twice before when I had the legal authority to open our local businesses, I immediately opened them that same day,” Eads added.
Abbott said Tuesday that businesses can open at full capacity starting next Wednesday but may limit occupancy or implement additional safety protocols at their discretion.
County judges will be able to impose their own coronavirus restrictions if COVID-19 hospitalizations rise above 15% in their region for seven straight days. But as of Tuesday, no area in Texas met that criteria, according to state data.
Trauma Service Area E, which includes Denton County, is currently at 9.18% of hospital capacity as of March 1.
“We have seen a decrease in the hospitalization rate in our region and across the county,” Eads said.
Denton County continues to provide tens of thousands of vaccines each week at the Texas Motor Speedway, the release said, issuing an estimated 36,000 invitations for three clinics this week for Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. It’s also offering free rides.
“We are continuing to provide vaccines in arms efficiently and effectively,” Eads said, adding that, to date, more than 57,000 individuals have received first dose vaccinations. “Denton County has been aggressive in ramping up our efforts to vaccinate as many people in Tiers 1A and 1B as quickly as we can,” he said.
By next Wednesday, Texas hopes to have administered 7 million vaccine shots, according to a news release from the state, which is considering when to add other tiers.
“Our hope is to vaccinate everyone on our Vaccine Interest Portal as soon as we can so that when Gov. Abbott expands the eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine, we’ll be ready,” Eads said.