Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price announced new restrictions concerning the coronavirus on Monday.
Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, all restaurants, bars, event centers, gyms, hotel restaurants, retail stores, public buildings, plazas, houses of worship, and malls will be limited to the number of people allowed inside at the same time.
Each business has a certificate of occupancy, and the number of people allowed inside each business will now be half of that certificate of occupancy number. However, there is a maximum number of 125 allowed inside any one business at a time.
The previous number before the announcement was 250.
“The city of Fort Worth is trying to do all they can to keep us open," restaurant owner David Shaw said. “It’s going to be really, really difficult and if it’s like Dallas and they close us I’m not sure what we are going to do."
Price suggested that restaurants offer more take-out or curbside options to help keep the number of people inside at the same time down.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Also on Monday, Tarrant County health officials announced the county's fifth positive case of the new coronavirus in a person who contracted the virus while on an out-of-state trip.
The person developed symptoms after they returned home and later tested positive for COVID-19.
"This fifth case has been isolated at home after developing symptoms," Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja said. "Because of HIPPA laws regarding the confidentiality of health information, we are not allowed to provide any specific details about this patient."
