Next Wednesday, October 14, Governor Greg Abbott will allow bars in some parts of Texas to reopen at 50% capacity. County judges will make the final decision, and bars can only open in regions of the state where COVID-19 patients take up less than 15% of hospital beds.
In North Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services said hospitals had a total of 913 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, accounting for about 7.5% of total hospitalizations across the region.
Bars were allowed to reopen May 22, but Abbott ordered them closed again in June when the number of cases and hospitalizations increased.
READ MORE: Governor Abbott will allow bars to open to 50% capacity in qualifying counties
"Bars have a very different traffic flow, and they appeal to a very different segment of the population, obviously much younger people," says Dr. Diana Cervantes, the director of the epidemiology program at UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth. "A lot of different people eat at restaurants, and they do have that defined area where they eat. They eat, and then they leave."
Cervantes, also the co-chair of the Tarrant County Infection Prevention Council, says lower capacity limits for bars are necessary because bar customers are more likely to be in crowds, close contact and confined spaces. She says those three items are some of the most likely to contribute to transmission of COVID-19.
"Those are the things you want to avoid," she says. "When you think about bars, they're usually in alignment with having those three. I think that's why bars are treated a little different than most restaurants."
Cerventes says restrictions at bars may also be more difficult to enforce.
"Especially with a bar, you start drinking, the more you drink, the less inhibited you are," she says. "You're also less likely to maintain those good measures, like wearing your mask, social distancing and not having prolonged contact with people. It's just the nature of bars. They're so social. You may go to a restaurant, chat a little bit and leave. At a bar, people want to socialize, and it's that type of activity that is just perfect for COVID-19 transmission."
Abbott's order requires no more than six people to be seated at a table. All customers will have to sit at a table while eating or drinking, and masks will be required for all people when they are not sitting down.
The order also requires dance floors to stay closed.
