City of Bedford Response

March 10, 2021 Update

As a reminder, cities and counties are permitted to adopt their own orders so long as these orders do not conflict with the Governor’s orders. As such, City Officials have decided on the following measures:

Special Events

• The Mayor and City Manager will no longer need to approve special events

All Facilities

• Visitors and employees are required to wear masks
• All protective screening, such as Plexiglass, will remain in place for the foreseeable future

Library

• The occupancy level has been increased from 44 to 132 patrons in the library at one-time, not counting staff. Please keep in mind Library staff will not be counting patrons unless they believe they are approaching the occupancy limit.
• Study rooms are now open
• Meeting room will remain available for use by the Library and the City of Bedford only at this time, which will allow for social distancing for upcoming programs and events, as well as meeting space
• The quarantine period of materials will be reduced from 72-hours to 24-hours
• Sunday Library hours of 1 to 5 p.m. will return Sunday, April 11

Municipal Court 

• Defendants are able to request an in-person or virtual court date
• Defendants can pay citations and warrants online, over the phone, by mail, or in-person. Please call the Municipal Court at 817-952-2150 to obtain all available options, which vary depending upon the circumstances.

Animal Shelter

• Is open to the public, with 75 percent occupancy

Roy Savage Pool

• The City is taking steps to hire the necessary staff and open the pool around Memorial Day

City Council and all Board/Commission Meetings

• Will continue to be held virtually for the foreseeable future

Tarrant County Response

March 2, 2021 Update

In response to Gov. Abbot's latest Executive Order, Tarrant County Judge B. Glen Whitley rescinded his County-level mask order. However, the statewide mask order remains in place. Masks will continue to be required until March 10. 

Masks will still be required in County-owned buildings and property at this time.

State of Texas Response

March 2, 2021 Update

Gov. Abbott announced he is rescinding most of his COVID-19-related statewide mandates on Wednesday, March 10, which includes:

• Allowing the statewide mask order to expire on March 10
• Returning ALL businesses to 100 percent capacity (includes restaurants/retailers)

Despite large gatherings not being specifically addressed, Gov. Abbott’s new executive order states it supersedes a previous Executive Order (GA-32) where large outdoor gatherings were restricted. Please see the City of Bedford section below for more information on large gatherings and special events.

Although much of the restrictions will go away, Gov. Abbot’s latest Executive Order allows for County-level restrictions. Specifically, if a Trauma Service Area sees COVID-19-related hospitalizations above 15 percent for seven consecutive days, County judges have the ability to issue orders of their own to control the case increase. If restrictions are imposed at a County level, those restrictions may not include reducing capacity to less than 50 percent for any type of entity.

The Trauma Service Area that covers much of North Texas, including Bedford, hit the COVID-19-related hospitalization milestone in early December 2020, and was able to roll back enhanced restrictions two weeks ago on February 16. 

Gov. Abbott’s reasoning for these changes include the abundance of personal protective equipment, access to COVID tests, antibody therapeutic drugs to reduce hospitalizations, and, most importantly, vaccines. So far, 5.7 million Texans have received their vaccine, with a rate of more than one million people receiving their vaccines per week now.

Please note: 

In January, the CDC issued an order requiring masks to be worn by travelers and operators on public transportation including airplanes, subways, buses, and ride-shares. Refusal to do so could result in penalties under federal law.

Individual businesses, organizations, and government entities have the right to require employees and patrons to wear masks. 

February 10, 2021 Update

Governor Greg Abbott recently announced that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has launched the Texas Rent Relief Program — the first statewide rent and utility assistance program for qualifying households throughout Texas. This program has been created to administer the more than $1 billion allocated to Texas through the latest federal COVID-19 stimulus bill. TDHCA is accepting applications now and Texans can visit TexasRentRelief.com starting today to learn more about qualifications, required documents, and the application process.