Tarrant County extends stay-at-home order until April 30

Tarrant County extended its stay-at-home order until the end of the month. Arlington and Fort Worth also added extensions.

Officials on Friday gave an update on hospital capacity there as Tarrant County reported one new death. The latest person who died was an adult out of Fort Worth.

The stay-at-home orders were originally set to expire on Tuesday. It will now be extended for an additional three weeks.

Arlington passed its order Thursday night, and Fort Worth is expected to pass its own at next Tuesday’s council meeting.

Tarrant County, Fort Worth and Arlington all extended their stay-at-home orders until April 30, following the steps of Dallas County earlier on Friday. That’s in step with guidelines issued by Governor Greg Abbott earlier this week.

In a joint press conference with Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams and Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, Mayor Betsy Price also discussed some of the money coming to Tarrant County from the massive economic stimulus package passed by Congress. Nearly $9 million will go toward combatting the spread of COVID-19.

“Everything from public testing, providing the infamous PPE, delivering meals and helping train healthcare volunteers and many others,” Price said.

Judge Whitley added that nearly half of the hospital bed capacity in the Tarrant County hospital system is currently available.

“First priority is the health of our community, and we’ve worked very hard on that,” he said. “We’ve been very good about communicating with our hospitals, with our providers and we feel very comfortable with that and that has to be our top priority.”

Heading into the weekend, Price has a strong reminder for families itching to spend some time outside.

“There are still issue in the parks and still issues on the golf course,” she said. “So pay attention to the social distancing rules and pay attention to gatherings in your neighborhood. It really will make a difference in the spread of the disease.”  

Non-essential businesses will remain closed to the public.

Anyone who is unsure if a business is considered essential, they can fill out a request to review the status of the business on the attorney general’s website.