NEW BRAUNFELS — Comal County’s Stay Home/Stay Safe order will expire April 30, and the county will follow Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s blueprint for reopening the state.
Under Abbott’s plan, retail stores and restaurants, among other establishments, can reopen beginning Friday at 25 percent of their occupant capacity. The governor’s recently signed orders do not address Comal County’s local tourism industry, and the county is seeking clarification from his office on whether those businesses can reopen.
“Throughout this process, our goal has been to follow the governor’s orders and clarify them where necessary for situations unique to Comal County,” said County Judge Sherman Krause. “Therefore, our order will expire as scheduled on Thursday, and the county will continue to follow the governor’s direction.”
Abbott’s order keeps his initial list of essential services and activities while adding a second list of previously nonessential businesses that can reopen with certain restrictions. Any business not included in either list is encouraged to apply for inclusion on the list of essential services and activities through the Texas Division of Emergency Management, Krause said.
If businesses in the unincorporated areas of Comal County, as well as those in the cities of Spring Branch and Garden Ridge, are uncertain of their official occupancy, the Comal County Fire Marshal’s Office is available to help them determine that number. Business owners can call 830-643-3748.
Dr. Dorothy Overman, Comal County’s health authority, added that maintaining social distancing measures remains important as the state and the county begin to restart their economies.
“As local businesses begin to reopen, we should remember that the coronavirus is not gone from our community,” Overman said. “The numbers of cases and deaths do appear to be improving in Texas, but a resurgence of cases could occur. I encourage all of our residents to continue good hand hygiene, social distancing and wearing facial coverings in public. All of these measures are working to protect all of us, especially our older population, those who have compromised immune systems, and those who have underlying health conditions putting them at greater risk.”
Full text of the governor’s order is available on the county’s COVID-19 webpage, www.comalcountytx.com/covid19.
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