UPDATE (9:05 a.m.) - Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price announced a"stay at home" order on Tuesday morning to try to slow the spread of coronavirus. The order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday night and lasts until April 3.
Under the order, only essential businesses should remain open, which included grocery stores, gas stations, daycares and restaurants with delivery and takeout.
FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD) - Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price will announce restrictions Tuesday morning to try to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Monday afternoon, Mayor Price posted a picture online reading, "Y'all stay home."
Through Monday afternoon, Tarrant County had confirmed 57 cases of coronavirus.
"We're monitoring this situation on a 24/7 basis, and we will be reporting to you, around the clock if need be, but certainly every day," she says.
Price says she is glad Governor Greg Abbott left the decision to cities and counties to decide whether to adopt tighter restrictions than the state's order to limit gatherings to no more than ten people. She says mayors of large cities and county judges have all been in contact with each other to develop the best plans to slow the spread of the virus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
"Big city mayors, we know, to protect our communities, we must act," she says. "We believe a coordinated response is critical at this stage."
Price, Williams and Whitley have not given details about whether Tarrant County will shift to "shelter-in-place" or announce a different set of restrictions.
Fort Worth's code compliance director says restricting access to "non-essential" businesses can slow the virus' spread and prevent it from gaining a "foothold," as it has in other parts of the world.
"We continue to work on declarations that limit the number of contact folks are having, particularly right now, as we move into one of the more significant time periods, the next two to three weeks," Code Compliance Director Brandon Bennett.
Through Monday afternoon, Fort Worth has had the most cases of COVID-19 in Tarrant County with 18. Arlington had 13.
One person in Tarrant County has died, and two people were listed as "recovered," one each in Benbrook and White Settlement.
The City of Fort Worth says business owners with questions can email covid19@fortworthtexas.gov or call (817) 392-8478.