“Please continue to exercise your right to vote,” said El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, who announced a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.
As El Paso continues to grapple with a surge of coronavirus cases, county authorities on Sunday implemented a curfew and city health officials asked residents to stay home for the next two weeks in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.
COVID-19-related hospitalizations in the area have spiked from 259 to 786 in less than three weeks — a 300% increase, according to Angela Mora, the director of the El Paso Public Health Department. And over the past 14 days, El Paso County has seen nearly 10,000 cases, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Sunday’s stay-at-home request from city officials — and the announcement of the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. county curfew — came nine days ahead of Election Day and as El Paso follows a statewide trend of record turnout during early voting. Officials, though, stressed that Sunday’s announcement did not mean residents should not vote if they have not already.
Asked later whether the county could go into a more restrictive shutdown, Samaniego said he and Margo spoke with Gov. Greg Abbott‘s staff on Saturday about that possibility and “agreed it would be harsh on the income of our constituents.” Samaniego also said he spoke Sunday afternoon with Abbott, who expressed concerns that the community and law enforcement had not responded accordingly to help avoid a surge in cases.
“I think we’ve done everything possible to do the right things,” Samaniego said.
Abbott’s office said Sunday that the governor spoke with Samaniego and discussed concerns that local officials had not enforced current limitations on reopenings.
“As soon as El Paso exceeded the 15 percent hospital capacity for 7 days the capacity limits were automatically reduced and local officials have a responsibility to enforce those limits,” Abbott spokesperson John Wittman said in a statement.
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/25/el-paso-coronavirus-stay-home/