Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update March 20

In this morning's newspaper, a "Clarification" was printed. It said that they had misstated a component of the state of disaster declaration issued by Bell County. The clarification was that the County "strongly urged - not required - the area's most COVID-19 susceptible residents to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people."

But that became a moot point yesterday, when Texas Governor Greg Abbot issued an executive order requiring all Texans to avoid gatherings with more than 10 people. He also ordered schools closed statewide until at least April 3, banned dine-in eating at restaurants, shut down gyms and bars and restricted access to nursing homes. Most of these measures had already been addressed by most county and/or city governments.

Governor Abbot emphasized, "This executive order is not a shelter in place order. It does not prohibit people from doing things like going to the grocery store, gas stations, parks or banks."