Editor's note: A lot happened this week. The coronavirus pandemic has continued to dominate daily life in Dallas — and the headlines, too. Here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular stories.
1. Dallas County imposes 'shelter in place' to prevent COVID-19 spread. Concerned about the rising number of COVID-19 cases in North Texas, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins on March 22 executed an order requiring all individuals who live within Dallas County to shelter at their place of residence. Other North Texas cities, including Richardson and Garland, quickly followed suit. Collin County imposed an order called Stay Home/Work Safe.
2. Coronavirus hits employees at 2 high-profile Dallas food & beverage spots. Two cases of coronavirus have surfaced at a prominent Dallas restaurant and an upscale grocery. An employee at a Dallas location of Central Market tested positive for the virus, as did a server at Town Hearth, the Design District restaurant owned by chef Nick Badovinus.
3. Dallas restaurants wade through COVID-19 confusion re: mixed drinks. When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott forced restaurants to go to pickup and delivery operations only, he threw what seemed to be a lifeline with a waiver that allowed them to also deliver alcoholic beverages. But confusion about what constitutes a "mixed drink" has ensued.
4. City of Dallas will start enforcing its new paid sick leave ordinance. Dallas is starting to enforce an ordinance in which workers will get paid if they're sick. The city adopted an ordinance in August 2019 called the Earned Paid Sick Time (Paid Sick Leave) Ordinance, which requires businesses to offer their employees paid sick leave. That includes not only full-time employees, but also part-time and even temporary.
5. Dallas opens drive-thru coronavirus testing at 2 locations. With the COVID-19 tally climbing daily, Dallas opened two drive-thru sites to test for for the virus. The tests have been provided to Dallas County by the federal government.
Dallas County is staying home.
