Thread by @JudgeClayJ

NEW: Dallas County Reports 493 New Positive 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases and 1 Death
504 Total Cases Reported Today Including 11 Older Cases and 50 Probable Cases

Today we see another high number of new #COVID19 cases with the numbers today being 454 confirmed cases and 50 probable cases for a total of 504 additional cases.

The increase in hospitalizations & new #COVID19 positive cases, as well as other metrics like the R-naught factor being above 1 for several weeks, has led the Public Health Committee to recommend a return to ‘Red’ on our color-coded chart...

...which can be found at DallasCountyCovid.org. With a new and quickly escalating wave of #COVID19 cases hitting North Texas, it is more important than ever that we make good decisions.

Things that doctors recommend as safe and permissible in ‘Orange,’ they recommend against in ‘Red.’ These things include dining in restaurants and personal grooming services, among other activities.

One activity that is not affected by the move to ‘Red’ is voting. We’ve already had two elections, a primary and a runoff election during #COVID19, both of which took place under a ‘Red’ (Stay Home Stay Safe) recommendation from the Public Health Committee.

There has been no known spread from voting or cases attributed back to polling places and this we believe is due to the extraordinary measures everyone is taking to keep you safe at the polls.

Your fellow voters are wearing their masks and the County has spent millions of dollars on disinfectants, plexiglass screens and other precautions to ensure that voters are safe.

You can go to DallasCountyVotes.org to see a color-coded map that shows which polls are least crowded and where voting can be done quickly and also download a sample ballot too.

The color-coded chart from the Public Health Committee is intended not to tell you what is legal, but rather what is safe.

I encourage businesses and individuals to look at the color-coded chart to determine what activities are recommended by doctors who specialize in the fields of infectious disease, public health and epidemiology.

There is also a School Health Committee that has set out recommendations for parents as far as in-person vs. virtual school learning options and extracurricular activities by color-coded chart as well which can be found here: dallascounty.org/Assets/uploads…

We encourage everyone to make their best decisions: wear your mask, maintain 6 ft distance & avoid large crowds. We must reverse the trend now while we have pleasant weather outside & an opportunity to do activities outside.

We know that when people are forced inside with #COVID19, such as when it's too cold for people to enjoy the outdoors later in the winter, the chance for spread increases due to poor circulation of indoor air & less sunlight to kill virus remnants left on handles & other surfaces