As Tarrant County and cities within its borders today issued amended regulations ordering all non-essential businesses to close and residents to “stay at home, work smart,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson this morning issued a new set of emergency regulations allowing Dallas County’s stay-at-home provisions to be enforced in parts of the city of Dallas that extend beyond the borders of Dallas County.

The mayor’s new emergency regulations also, at the request of City Manager T.C. Broadnax, suspend City Council committee meetings, other than the two new ad hoc committees devoted to COVID-19 assistance and recovery, through at least April 29.

Johnson’s original disaster declaration, issued March 12, last through April 29, unless they are renewed or rescinded before then.

“Because the city of Dallas sits in five counties — Collin, Dallas, Denton, Kaufman and Rockwall — this step is necessary to ensure that our enforcement efforts across the city are uniform and to clarify any confusion among Dallas residents about the many emergency orders they may have been hearing about,” Johnson said. “Going forward, absent statewide emergency regulations, I hope that our county judges and mayors will adopt a regional approach for dealing with this pandemic.”

He also “strongly encourage[d]” county judges to “work with their stakeholders, such as the business owners and the cities within their jurisdictions who will bear the brunt of enforcing these constantly evolving regulations” in an effort to not have to issue new orders and regulations daily.

“I believe that we can achieve much broader consensus on emergency orders that will allow the nearly 8 million people who live in our region to operate under clearer and more consistent rules, irrespective of the political boundaries that separate us,” Johnson said. “We will beat COVID-19 with swift and aggressive action, but we all must do our part.”

The new city of Dallas emergency regulations can be found here. A summary of the county’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order, produced by the Dallas City Attorney’s office, is available in English here and in Spanish here. The Dallas County FAQ is here.

For more information on COVID-19, visit the city’s web page, DallasCityHall.com/coronavirus.

— Tammye Nash