Believing the Dallas County order mandating businesses require all employees or visitors (i.e. customers) wear face coverings places the undo enforcement burden upon businesses, the Rowlett City Council was unanimous in their decision at a Special City Council Meeting last night NOT to extend this Dallas County order citywide to include the Rockwall County portion of Rowlett.
However, now is not the time to relax your prevention efforts! Covid-19 is still spreading. As the number of COVID-19 cases, along with the corresponding hospitalization rates, continues to rise in North Texas – the ages of those contracting the virus continues to drop.
Almost half of the Dallas County cases since June 1 are young adults between 18 and 39 years of age. In Rowlett, the average age for positive cases was 29 years of age in the last week, compared to the average age the week before of 52 years of age. The state’s positivity rate has doubled from 4.5% in May to 9% in the last week. Hospitalizations are up over 50% in our area since June 1, and in the month of June, half of the hospitalizations and a third of the patients in intensive care units have been under age 50.
It’s summer, we want to gather with friends, go to pool parties and BBQs, attend concerts and sit on patios. We all want to “get back to normal”, but this is the new normal we must co-exist with right now. Please stay home when possible, and stay vigilant when you must go out – wear a face covering, maintain that six feet of social distancing from others not in your group and, most importantly, wash your hands often. These measures are critical not only to slow the spread and protect people’s lives, but also to protect our economy from further closures and to prevent compromising the other health care services we need across the state.
