Mayor Eric Johnson
UPDATE: New regulations go into effect at 11:59 p.m. tonight. Restaurants, wineries, microbreweries and micro-distilleries can continue take-out, delivery, drive in or drive through services. Bars, lounges, taverns, private clubs, gyms and health clubs, commercial amusement venues and theaters will close beginning at midnight tonight.
Johnson says city council is meeting Wednesday and will look for “all the ways possible to cushion the blow” and “look at every way possible” to preserve economy and “our way of life.”
“Health, safety and welfare is our first responsibility as government. But we will all be sensitive to the fact that it will have an economic impact,” Johnson said.
Order at this point extends for seven days. The city council will vote Wednesday on whether to extend the regulations and if so, how long.
Johnson says the situation is “evolving hour by hour. … We are prepared to do what it takes, but that is constantly changing mix of tools …. We can’t rule anything out at this moment. We have to be open-minded about what we can do and be ready to do it quickly.”
“This is a decision that kept me up, all night,” Johnson said. “I’m moved by what I know is going to happen to our local economy that we have worked so hard over a long, long time. … Only doing this to save lives. … This wasn’t an easy decision; it was gut-wrenching, actually.”
ORIGINAL POST:
The city of Dallas has just announced new regulations that include the closing of all bars, lounges, taverns, theaters, gyms and more. Restaurants can remain open for drive-through, delivery and take out services, but no dine-in services, according to Mayor Eric Johnson, speaking now at City Hall.
County Judge Clay Jenkins is expected to announce similar regulations within the hour.
The changes are being enacted in the wake of another confirmed case of community-spread COVID-19 in Dallas.
This post will be updated.
— Tammye Nash