After closing dining service on March 19, Governor Greg Abbott allowed bars to reopen with capacity limits on May 22. Despite anything in this document to the contrary, the governor may, by proclamation, add to the list of establishments or places that people should not visit. Travis County Acting Judge Sam Biscoe hasn't made a decision until Wednesday morning. Williamson County, Hays County, and other counties are reopening bars, but documentation has not yet been filed with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC).Businesses in Texas, including bars and restaurants, are starting to reopen at full capacity after nearly a year of COVID restrictions. Abbott's latest executive order lifted the state mandate for face masks and other COVID-19 restrictions.
The Governor's plan provides an avenue for county judges to reopen various types of businesses in their counties, including bars, breweries, distilleries and more. In Texas' worst-hit county, El Paso, where the hospitalization rate is 38% and cases have increased for weeks, County Judge Ricardo Samaniego is desperate. Michael Klein, the head of the Texas Lawyers and Nightclubs Alliance, said that with such a high recovery rate from COVID-19, government officials should allow businesses and clients to decide on opening. The total number of confirmed cases in Texas has exceeded 2.7 million, with a total of 45,797 deaths reported as of Thursday according to Johns Hopkins University. Texas currently ranks 47th among states based on the number of doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered per 100,000 people according to Wednesday's latest report from the U. S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).But in late June, as cases and hospitalizations skyrocketed in Texas, Abbott ordered bars to close their doors once again, expressing regret for opening them too quickly in the first place. Individuals were advised not to visit bars or similar establishments located in counties not included in parts (a) or (b) above. Abbott said counties where the hospitalization rate exceeds 15% should close bars and impose stricter occupancy limits on businesses. Public health officials and experts have said since this spring that bars pose unique dangers to the spread of COVID-19. A Caldwell County announcement sent Friday says County Judge Hoppy Haden has elected to reopen bars and similar businesses beginning October NOW, THEREFORE, I, Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, and in accordance with guidance of Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner Dr. The bars say they plan to offer music and charge for admission, and the proceeds will go to a charity of their choice. Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said he wants to be the first judge in all of Texas to reopen bars.
Those bars and nightclubs are some of the more than 2,500 so far that the state has allowed to reopen with the promise that they would be converted into restaurants during the pandemic. Travis, Williamson and Hays counties have most of the bars in Central Texas but many other counties are also making the decision to reopen bars. Oscar Gamboa, owner of Bodega's in Amarillo said it's not clear why his bar was closed but not others he sees flagrantly violating the rules.
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