Back to business

Jared Pendergrass works on a to-go order behind the bar at Albarran’s Mexican Bar & Grill on Friday, May 1, 2020, in Lubbock, Texas. May 1, 2020, was the first day retail spaces and restaurants were allowed to reopen at a reduced capacity in Texas after they were shut due to COVID-19. [PHOTOS BY JUSTIN REX/A-J MEDIA]

Several of Lubbock’s West Texas neighbors are being called coronavirus hotspots as the daily confirmed cases continue going up.

Heading into the weekend, Amarillo reported more than 400 new cases of the corona-virus this week alone. Abilene reported more than 100 new cases this week.

Mall patrons enter the South Plains Mall on Friday, May 1, 2020, in Lubbock, Texas. May 1, 2020, was the first day retail spaces and restaurants were allowed to reopen at a reduced capacity in Texas after they were shut due to COVID-19.

The New York Times has been tracking growth rates, and as of Friday, listed Abilene and Amarillo as potential hotspots. Both were listed in the top six cities nationally as to where an outbreak could occur.

On Friday, the NYT listed Abilene’s daily growth rate at 11%, and doubling nearly every 10 days. This was the fourth highest daily growth rate in the country. Amarillo, which this week topped 1,000 total cases reported, showed a daily growth rate of 10%, and doubling every seven days. This was the sixth highest daily growth rate in the country.

“We are doing everything in our power to help our city attack the outbreak,” Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson said on Friday. “I know many of you are watching our numbers. You’re concerned. I’m concerned. I know that we are getting national attention in the press for the numbers that are growing, the positive tests we are posting. We are watching all of this.”

Nelson said because of the current situation, city officials are in open dialogue with state government officials asking for help. The city sent a letter earlier this week asking for supplies to help with the outbreak, including testing kits, mobile testing units as well as manpower to administer the tests and serve as contact investigators.

On Saturday, Amarillo confirmed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be assuming coronavirus outbreak related responsibilites in the Amarillo area as cases continue to spike. Many of that community’s cases are linked to meatpacking facilities, prompting the intervention, the Amarillo Globe-News reported.

Amarillo and Abilene saw many businesses open back up - at least partially - Friday, just like the rest of the state following Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order earlier in the week.

Lubbock, which had tougher restrictions in the beginning, reported 44 total new cases last Monday through Friday. Lubbock received its first reported case prior to these cities, so health officials believe Lubbock hit its peak prior to other cities in the area.

Mayor Dan Pope, who spoke with A-J Media on Friday, believes Lubbock is in a good place. The local task force had hoped to open more businesses with a higher capacity than what the governor allowed, although with stricter guidance.

Health officials for the past week have said they believe Lubbock’s trend is going down. It’s been more than two weeks since Lubbock reported more than 20 new cases in a day.

This isn’t to say Lubbock is “out of the woods yet.” Dr. Ron Cook, Lubbock health authority, says he’s concerned about the potential for a second spike.

“Of course I’m nervous,” Cook said during the news conference Thursday. “I’ve been in the hospitals, I’ve been in the clinics and I’ve watched our numbers. We’re doing a good job. We’re going to open up Lubbock and I’m worried we’re not going to maintain our social distancing and we’re going to get more people infected. Yes, I’m worried, but the good citizens of Lubbock can make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Pope gave credit to the city’s health department and regional hospitals. The mayor and other health officials say Lubbock was quicker than most to expand testing capabilities. Pope said on Friday morning that the state had tested 1.15% of all Texans. In Lubbock, 2.36% of the residents have been tested, so Lubbock is testing at more than two times the state rate.

Lubbock has four drivethru testing sites. The most recent at Patterson Library is run by the health department, and is offering free testing for people without health insurance and who qualify. Residents need to call the health department at 775-2933 to set up an appointment.

Katherine Wells, public health director, previously said she has 25 workers doing contact tracing. This means they’re interviewing people with COVID-19, warning people who’ve come into contact with that person to stay inside, publicly declaring possible contamination sites and doing follow-ups.

Pope said these are the two tasks needed to slow the spread: testing and contact tracing. He said it took a lot of people to come together to make this happen.

Pope said people in Lubbock haven’t been perfect when it comes to social distancing, but he said the majority of people have tried.

The City of Lubbock was also quick to issue a stay-at-home order, which the mayor issued in late March when the city reported just over 50 cases. The city was also strict with closing non-essential businesses and having restaurants and retail switch to curbside only.

Wells

Eli Ramon visits with Jalenn Earle and Erin Hollis in Albarran’s Bar & Grill on Friday, May 1, 2020, in Lubbock, Texas. May 1, 2020, was the first day retail spaces and restaurants were allowed to reopen at a reduced capacity in Texas after they were shut due to COVID-19.

[JUSTIN REX/A-J MEDIA]

Pope

Abbott

Nelson

Some cities didn’t, and the mayor said earlier this week he believes those cities wish they were in the position Lubbock is in.

“I believe the decisions we made in late March, after consulting with our public health and healthcare experts, and city leadership, I believe we made the right decision,” Pope said. “We were certainly not perfect. We were very consistent with the state order, and our order. It didn’t make everybody happy. But we felt like that’s what we needed to do.”

Every community has its own unique situation, so it’s hard to compare. A nursing home seemed to be the epicenter of Lubbock’s outbreak. It’s tragic, Pope said. Lubbock is experiencing a relatively high number of fatalities. While Amarillo had reported 12 deaths by Friday, 43 individuals have died in Lubbock because of COVID-19. Thirty-eight were from a nursing home.

In Amarillo, it’s believed that many of the confirmed cases stem from an outbreak at the JBS meat packing facility in nearby Cactus as well as the Clements Unit state prison.

Per the governor's order, retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, malls, museums and libraries are currently allowed to open at 25% capacity starting Friday. Bars, gyms, salons, barbershops and tattoo shops will remain closed until at least mid-May.

These are state-wide orders.

“The Governor has taken it out of our hands and it is completely in his control and we will follow the Governor’s orders,” Mayor Nelson of Amarillo said this week. “It’s that simple.”

Mayor Pope of Lubbock said the “keys were taken away” from the city. While Nelson was hinting that maybe it’s too early for Amarillo to open, members of Lubbock’s economic task force said they wanted to see service businesses like barbershops and salons to open in some capacity this week.

What if Lubbock sees a spike?

Pope said there are provisions on a county-by-county level for the governor to take action if the county’s coronavirus cases make a dramatic uptick. What that probably means, said Pope, is the state would provide more resources to control the spread rather than tighten regulations. It’s a state-wide order, so Lubbock itself doesn’t have the local control to tighten regulations.

The governor has his own coronavirus strike force advising him on decisions. Abbott’s strike force features three individuals from the Lubbock area: Marc McDougal of McDougal Companies, Brad Heffington of Heffington Farms and Triple T Irrigation, and Carla Moran of Ramar Communications.

Heffington is from Littlefield, McDougal and Moran are from Lubbock.

Heffington said the three were there to represent rural Texas, and West Texas. The three submitted a joint-recommendation to the governor after the group hosted several meetings. McDougal said they’re still meeting, and the roughly 40 members will continue to advise the governor.

Heffington and McDougal said their advice to the governor was to begin opening the economy. Heffington said all the people that contacted him said the economy needs to begin opening back up.

“The governor has a really hard job,” Heffington said. “He’s listening to the medical people, the business people, and everybody else trying to do this, and not cause another outbreak or an increase.”

Heffington said from a rural perspective, there hasn’t been too drastic of a change this month. He said social distancing is a bit easier out in West Texas, and most of the businesses in small towns are essential.

McDougal said their recommendations were to let retail stores and restaurants operate at 50% capacity, and let personal services open. McDougal said their recommendations about safety measures were a bit stricter than the governor’s final order. He said their recommendations were more in line with the Lubbock Safe! recommendations involving face coverings and temperature readings.

McDougal said this is a step, and he hopes opening up everything follows shortly in the near future.

McDougal said there are a lot of opinions on the strike force. He felt Abbott listened, and McDougal said he doesn’t envy the position he’s in.

Workers at Little Tokyo prepare food in the South Plains Mall food court on Friday, May 1, 2020, in Lubbock, Texas. May 1, 2020, was the first day retail spaces and restaurants were allowed to reopen at a reduced capacity in Texas after they were shut due to COVID-19. [PHOTOS BY JUSTIN REX/A-J MEDIA]

McKenzie Moore takes an order in Caprock Cafe on Friday, May 1, 2020, in Lubbock, Texas. May 1, 2020, was the first day retail spaces and restaurants were allowed to reopen at a reduced capacity in Texas after they were shut due to COVID-19.

“With the exception of nail and hair, I’m pleased with where we’re at,” McDougal said this week. “The issue the governor has to deal with is you’ve got a big state. There’s lots of differences between Harris County and Dallas, and out in West Texas and East Texas, and the coastal communities... I think where the governor landed was probably as close to getting everybody back to work as we could in that first phase. But we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got to get these personal services back online.”

McDougal said they’re typically given just a few days notice before the task force meets again, so he’s making himself available whenever the governor seeks input.