Morris County Judge issues COVID-19 update

Morris County Judge Doug Reeder released an update to the county's COVID-19 cases via Facebook earlier today, April 20. His statement is below.
Morris County Judge

"I wanted to offer this brief update on the coronavirus outbreak for the residents of Morris County. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that while the rate of increase of confirmed COVID-19 cases has slowed, Texas has not yet reached its peak. Therefore, it is important that we all continue mitigation measures, including following social distancing guidelines. Now is not the time to become complacent.
As for Morris County, we currently have five confirmed cases in the county, limited to two households and one individual in the hospital. Here is the information for the confirmed cases in the county.
1st case – 42 year old female (quarantined at home) confirmed on Sunday, March 22nd
2nd case – 64 year old female (in the hospital) confirmed Thursday, April 9th
3rd case – 70 year old male (quarantined in the same home as 1st case) confirmed Friday, April 10th
4th case – 28 year old male (quarantined at home) confirmed Thursday, April 16th
5th case – under investigation (quarantined in the same home as 4th case) confirmed Sunday, April 19th
While the safety of our residents is the primary goal, we must begin the process of getting our country, our state, and our county back to work. To that end President Trump has announced a plan for lifting restrictions. Under the proposed gating criteria, in order to implement Phase I, states must experience a downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period. At this point, Texas is still experiencing daily increases. Hopefully, we will reach our peak caseload soon and can begin moving toward completing the two week decline.
On Friday, April 17th, Governor Abbott issued Executive Order GA-16, basically continuing his prior Orders with minor revisions. GA-16 will allow non-essential retail businesses to re-open on April 24th for pick-up or delivery sales, provided CDC guidelines are maintained in the workplace. Governor Abbott also announced that state parks will re-open today, Monday, April 20th, with mandatory social distancing and gatherings limited to 5 persons. In addition, some elective medical procedures will be allowed. Schools will remain closed for the remainder of the school year.
Governor Abbott plans to make another announcement on Monday, April 27th. It is believed that Governor Abbott will lift additional restrictions at that time, as well as lay out a more detailed timeline for business openings.
I have been asked by several residents whether I intend to issue an order similar to the one Titus County Judge Brian Lee issued this weekend requiring customers to wear facial coverings when they enter essential businesses. Every county is different and has its own unique factors to consider. At this time, I do not anticipate requiring individuals to wear facial coverings when they enter essential businesses. However, we do strongly encourage wearing masks when in public or if you are around someone who is high risk or vulnerable. Also, we are reevaluating the situation every day, and we are following the advice of our governor and the Department of State Health Services. We will do whatever is necessary to protect our citizens.
Please stay safe and continue to follow the social distancing guidelines until we have effectively slowed the spread of this virus.
Thank you for all that you do.
Doug Reeder
Morris County Judge