Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins just announced that Dallas County will adjust into shelter-in-place (“SIP”) starting Monday, March 23, at 11:59 p.m.
The order basically bans people from leaving their residences for anything but an “essential” activity.
What does that mean? The word “essential” is the word that determines your world.
What you may consider important to your life may meet the standards of “essential” for the days ahead. It means that you can still go to the grocery or convenience store and walk your pets, but you can’t go to your hairdresser, manicurist, masseur or tattoo artist.
The purpose, Jenkins said, is not to “exceed our hospital capacity and to minimize the catastrophic outcomes we’ve seen in other countries because they waited too long.”
There are all types of descriptions of what qualifies as “essential,” but the long and short is a graph that shows if North Texans don’t bite the bullet and SIP, the coronavirus is going to score big-time.
Other major counties in Texas are starting to follow Dallas’ lead (they won’t admit it, but just know we’re first); failing to SIP is the only way that this highly contagious critter can devastate our communities.
Jenkins reported that the plan is in place until Friday, April 3, but acknowledged that he expected it to be extended.
Be safe and shelter.
* Photo credit: Skeeter Hagler