North Texas Daily

The Denton County Commissioners Court unanimously passed a motion to extend the stay-at-home executive order and disaster declaration and any other appropriate action until March 31 at Friday’s emergency meeting to prevent COVID-19 spread. 

Judge Andy Eads said the Commissioners Court will review the extension again during their regular Tuesday Zoom meeting to decide whether it needs to be extended further. 

“We’re going to try to take this on a weekly basis and monitor the spread of COVID-19 in the county and take that into consideration,” Eads said. “The safety of our public is our top priority here.”

Denton County Public Health Director Matt Richardson gave the court an update on the status of COVID-19 in the U.S. and in Denton.

Richardson said there are currently 86,012 cases in the U.S., making it the nation with the most cases, and 1,301 deaths. 

“The United States is getting hit pretty severely,” Richardson said. 

Richardson said there are 83 cases in Denton County— eight of which are in Denton’s State Supported Living Center— and one death of a Lewisville man in his 40s.

“[The State Supported Living Center] is an outbreak within a very vulnerable population in a vulnerable site,” Richardson said. “We’re directing many resources there and we are also reserving some resources for continued testing.”

DCPH is also testing first responders, firefighters, police officers and other healthcare professionals, Richardson said.

“Testing is happening all over the country and I think it’s not meeting demand,” Richardson said. “Most of those tests are from private laboratories. Those laboratories are not reporting to us how many tests they are performing.”

Richardson said DCPH will continue to report positive tests and communicate risks in the community.

“We’ve been working with our hospital partners, healthcare providers, EMS providers, fire chiefs and medical directors,” Richardsons said. “That remains constant. I anticipate we’re going to have many more cases to report at the end of the day.”

Featured Image: Infographic illustration demonstrating the ways that “flattening the curve” will help to assist local medical responders, inside of the Denton County Courthouse on the Square. Image by Bertha Angela Smith.