Story at a glance
- “Our hospitals are at capacity, and our medical professionals are overwhelmed. If we don’t respond we will see unprecedented levels of death,” Samaniego said when announcing the order.
- “He failed to do his job and is now illegally shutting down entire businesses which will cause further harm to El Pasoans who are already suffering economically due to the pandemic,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday.
- The Texas Attorney General filed a motion for a temporary injunction. A judge is expected to render a decision on whether to temporarily stop the lockdown by Thursday or Friday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says an El Paso County judge’s order to shutdown nonessential businesses in response to a worsening coronavirus outbreak is illegal.
Late last month, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego ordered a two-week shutdown of nonessential businesses such as tattoo parlors, hair salons, nail salons, gyms and in-person dining at restaurants, citing a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations that has pushed area hospitals to capacity.
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“Our hospitals are at capacity, and our medical professionals are overwhelmed. If we don’t respond we will see unprecedented levels of death,” Samaniego said when announcing the order.
But the move to mitigate the alarming outbreak was swiftly met with pushback from state officials who claim the order goes against Abbott’s executive order regarding the reopening of businesses.
“At a press conference on October 25, the county judge made clear that he had not been enforcing existing protocols allowed under law, despite the fact that these protocols are effective strategies to contain COVID-19 while allowing businesses to safely open,” Abbott said in a statement Tuesday.
“He failed to do his job and is now illegally shutting down entire businesses, which will cause further harm to El Pasoans who are already suffering economically due to the pandemic,” Abbott said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a temporary injunction to stop the lockdown order this week, and a state district judge heard arguments Wednesday over the order, which largely focused on local power versus Abbott’s executive power as governor, according to The Texas Tribune. The judge said he would render a decision on whether to temporarily stop the lockdown by Thursday or Friday.
The hearing occurred on the same day El Paso reported a record 3,100 new coronavirus cases and eight additional deaths with 1,041 people hospitalized. El Paso has been hit hard by the virus in recent weeks and has had to set up four temporary morgues.
El Paso has confirmed 58,429 cases and 639 deaths since the pandemic began.
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