While bars and night clubs in Dallas County will remain closed on Oct. 14, Denton and Collin counties have announced that they will file paperwork with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to allow local bars to reopen. As of Thursday evening, Tarrant County was still coming to a decision on the matter.
“I applaud the governor taking this much needed step to reopen Texas," Denton County Judge Andy Eads said in a statement Wednesday. "Denton County has continued to do a great job with our cases down compared to other urbanized areas in North Texas. We feel for the financial pain these businesses have gone through and we fully support their reopening.”
Denton County reported 135 new cases of COVID-19 along with four new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the county's total death toll to 113 since the pandemic began.
“With the encouragement and recommendation of the doctors and scientists from Collin County Health Care Services, I will be filing the necessary paperwork with the (TABC) to allow Collin County bars to reopen next week,” Collin County Judge Chris Hill said in a statement Thursday.
As of Thursday afternoon, Collin County reported 109 new cases of COVID-19 with 161 deaths since the pandemic began.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that Texas bars and night clubs would be allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity Oct. 14, so long as county judges signed off on the decision. On Twitter Wednesday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said he would not file to reopen bars on Oct. 14, citing an increase in new cases.