Non-essential medical procedures to be postponed, restaurants to reduce capacity
As COVID-19 cases have filled area hospital beds in excess of 15% capacity for seven consecutive days, the City of Waxahachie announced today that restaurants, event centers, and other businesses not exempted from state orders will need to reduce their capacity to 50% .
In a social media post issued at the close of the business day today, city administrators announced:
“On September 17, 2020 and October 7, 2020, Governor Abbott issued Executive Orders GA-31 and GA-32 respectively. GA-31 required hospitals in an area of high hospitalizations to postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not medically necessary to diagnose or correct a serious medical condition or preserve the life of a patient, as determined by the physician. If a procedure does not deplete hospital capacity needed to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be performed.
“GA-32 essentially allowed indoor businesses that were currently operating at 50% capacity to start operating at 75% capacity unless they were in an area with high hospitalizations. If in an area with high hospitalizations, those businesses may only operate at a maximum of 50% occupancy.
“The Governor’s Orders define an ‘area of high hospitalizations’ as any Trauma Service Area that has had seven consecutive days in which the number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients as a percentage of total hospital capacity exceeds 15%.
“Unfortunately, the Trauma Service Area that includes Waxahachie, Trauma Service Area E, has been over the 15% threshold for seven consecutive days as of December 3, 2020. Therefore, the Governor’s limitations mentioned above pertaining to surgeries, medical procedures and occupancy limits are in effect and will remain in effect until our Trauma Service Area is below the 15% threshold for seven consecutive days.”
Information compiled on December 2, 2020 and offered by the Ellis County COVID-19 Dashboard shows Ellis County with 395 active cases of COVID-19, of which 115 are in Waxahachie, which leads the county in the number of active cases.
Of the 20 ICU beds available in Ellis County, 15 were occupied with COVID-19 patients as of the tally.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 119 deaths related to COVID–19 in the county, 52 of which occurred in Waxahachie.
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