Jacob Sanchez

Bell County added 5 cases today, Robinson-Chadwell just announced. Bell County now has at least 25 cases.

With Gov. Abbott’s directive to have hospitals report their testing numbers, Dr. Chadwell said the county should know local inventories soon.

“Directive No. 4 is primarily being issued for clarification purposes,” Blackburn said, introducing an updated version of Bell County’s shelter-in-place order.

Most of the changes, Blackburn said, are reformats that make it easier to read for Bell County residents.

One part removed from the prior order, Blackburn said, is one that banned churches from congregating. Now, churches are strongly urged to follow guidelines from the county and to livestream their services.

“We have recieve multiple questions whether stand alone gun shops can remain open,” Blackburn said. They were banned, but the TX AG issued an opinion today saying gun shops are, in fact, essential businesses. “Accordingly, gun shops have been added to Directive No. 4.”

The Bell County coronavirus hotline has averaged about 50 calls an hour, Blackburn said.

So far, Bell County residents are complying with the shelter-in-place order, Blackburn said. No citations have been issued yet, he said.