PARIS, Texas (AP) – Barely a week ago, rural Lamar County could make a pretty good argument for Texas’ reopening on Friday.
Governor Abbott has long touted Texas’ rural communities as among those least impacted by the pandemic, but just days after Phase 1 reopening plans were announced last Monday, an outbreak has hit affected 65 residents of a nursing home in the rural county near the Oklahoma border. One has died.
The Paris Healthcare Nursing Home is the impacted facility.
A Facebook post for the Paris-Lamar County Health District, details the outbreak
Before this past weekend, only a handful of the county’s 50,000 residents had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Before this past weekend, only a handful of the county’s 50,000 residents had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The county becomes a cautionary tale of the fragility of the governor’s plan to get Texas back in business.
Starting today, retailers, restaurants and movie theaters have permission to let customers back in the door.
Dallas County and the City of Dallas have voiced concern that the state is opening to soon; and say it should not be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
Meantime, on Wednesday the Texas coronavirus death toll hit single-day high of 50 Thursday.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s “stay-at-home” order expires today. The death toll of 119 over the past three days mark the deadliest stretch since the state’s first fatality in the pandemic was recorded March 17. Thursday’s 1,033 new cases is the first time the state has been over 1,000 since April 8.
(Copyright 2020 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News)
