Harris County's 'Stay Home, Work Safe' order expires today, but new one is coming
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's extended "Stay Home, Work Safe" order during the COVID-19 pandemic ends today, but a new one is already in the works.
ABC13 spoke to Hidalgo at the funeral service for George Floyd Tuesday afternoon.
"We'll be issuing a different order after it expires. We don't want to give the impression the danger has passed. Transmission rates continue to rise. So we'll be issuing a new order in the next couple of days," Hidalgo said.
The initial order was first issued in March to help "flatten the curve" of coronavirus cases in the area. Under the order, only essential businesses were allowed to remain open. Many people began to work from home and were urged to practice social distancing.
The order was extended again in May as businesses across the state began to reopen. That order, which expires today, had two sets of rules designed to ensure the safety of employees returning to work.
One set of guidelines covered public-facing workers such as retail and restaurant employees, and another set was in place for employees in the manufacturing sector.
Now that the state's reopening is well underway, it's not clear what the new order Hidalgo talked about briefly Tuesday will look like.
Also on Tuesday, the state reported over 2,000 hospitalizations, the highest number since the pandemic started here in March.
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