As of Monday morning, Freestone County remains outside of the 110 Texas counties with a confirmed case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), with no cases reported in the county over the weekend.
With Limestone and Navarro counties already among the 110 reporting cases, Leon has joined the list as of Sunday night. According to Leon County Emergency Management, a 50-year-old male patient has been confirmed with the virus, with the belief being his case is travel-related. No other details have been released on the case, with the number of Brazos Valley cases increasing to 59 as of Sunday evening.
Leon County followed with a shelter-in-place order Monday, with details available on the county’s website.
The City of Fairfield offices have continued to make city changes due to the virus, but are yet to call for a shelter-in-place order as of Monday morning. Fairfield City Council passed a resolution Friday to postpone the May 2 city election, with the election now taking place November 3 in conjunction with state and federal elections.
This postponement comes after an executive order by Governor Greg Abbott, which allowed cities to push back elections due to the ongoing pandemic. The recommendation of the Governor, as well as the city attorney, led to the decision.
“The city feels that postponing the election is better for the safety of the voters and the local election judges,” Mayor Kenneth Hughes said in a statement.
Deadline to register for the election is October 5, with early voting taking place Oct. 19-30.
Another city announcement made Monday was the closing of the kiddie park and basketball court at Fairfield City Park, effective immediately. The venues will be closed until further notice, with the decision made by the city in the interest of public safety.
Wortham Mayor Pellie Goolsby announced a shelter-in-place order Monday, joining Teague in issuing such an order. The order is available to read on the Wortham Police Department Facebook page, and contains guidelines similar to ones made from state and county recommendations.
In state news, Gov. Abbott added onto his previous executive order of mandatory 14-day quarantines Monday. On March 26, Abbott issued an executive order mandating 14-day quarantine periods for air travelers flying into Texas from the New York area, as well as from New Orleans.
The order stated that new locations could be added to the list, and a Monday statement included the following locations, with residents mandated to quarantine if they arrived from:
-The state of California;
-The state of Louisiana;
-The state of Washington;
-The city of Atlanta, Georgia;
-The city of Chicago;
-The city of Detroit, and;
-The city of Miami.
This shall remain in effect as long as the order is in full force, unless otherwise amended by Gov. Abbott.
The 14-day mandated quarantine period was also extended to road travelers from any location in Louisiana.