Texas Border County Re-Issues Coronavirus Lockdown Orders

A Texas border county judge re-issued shelter-at-home, curfews, travel restrictions, and mask orders. This marks the second round of such rules since the start of the pandemic as local health officials claim emergency rooms are at or near capacity.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez issued the order on Monday afternoon, which is set to go into effect on Wednesday morning and run through August 5. The order includes a shelter at home order for all individuals and travelers in the county with the exception of those carrying out essential activities. The order also imposes a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. also with essential exceptions. The order limits the number of individuals in a vehicle and requires facial coverings in all public or commercial spaces. Violations can be punishable with a $250 fine.

Hidalgo County is seeing a relatively dramatic rise in new cases and deaths. On Monday, officials reported 34 fatalities in one day. The current totals for the county stand at 12,787 cases and 318 fatalities.

Currently, the health officials claim to have 7,203 active cases in the county, with 1,024 admitted at local hospitals. Officials say 228 are in intensive care units.

Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that military medical teams were being dispatched to the region to aid local systems.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.