Denton County has followed state guidelines and will continue to do so with Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement today that all businesses can operate at 100 percent beginning Wednesday, March 10.
“We are following the governor’s lead on reopening Texas to allow all businesses to operate at 100 percent,” said Denton County Judge Andy Eads. “Twice before when I had the legal authority to open our local businesses, I immediately opened them that same day.”
Gov. Abbott also announced the state’s mask mandate would be lifted beginning March 10. Denton County, which never issued a mask mandate, will follow the state guideline. Both were part of the Governor’s Executive Order GA-34, which supersedes all other previous executive orders related to COVID-19.
Cases of COVID-19 have continued a downward trend in recent months. Trauma Service Area E, which includes Denton County, is currently at 9.18 percent of hospital capacity as of March 1. “We have seen a decrease in the hospitalization rate in our region and across the county,” Judge Eads said.
Denton County continues to provide tens of thousands of vaccines each week at the Texas Motor Speedway, issuing an estimated 36,000 invitations for three clinics this week for today, Thursday and Friday.
“We are continuing to provide vaccines in arms efficiently and effectively,” Judge 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.
Last week, on Feb. 25, Denton County vaccinated more than 10,000 individuals in a single day for the first time at Texas Motor Speedway.
“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,” he said.