Coronavirus News

Latest reopening in Texas includes bars, professional sports, summer school classes

Bars can open at 25 percent capacity.

Texas bars are back in business, part of the state's latest reopening phase in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a press conference on May 18, Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled the latest round of reopenings, which can take place over the coming weeks.

Businesses allowed to open include bars, professional sports, and summer school classes, as long as they follow safety procedures.

Bars can reopen open May 22 with 25 percent capacity, along with wine tasting rooms and craft beer breweries. Restaurants, which were allowed to reopen on May 1, can now increase their capacity to 50 percent, doubling their previous capacity of 25 percent.

Those capacity limits do not extend to outdoor areas.

Entertainment venues including bowling alleys, drive-in movie theaters, zoos, and aquariums, are also allowed to reopen on May 22, also at 25 percent.

The full list of businesses allowed to reopen can be found on gov.texas.gov/opentexas.

"COVID-19 still exists in Texas," Abbott said. "Our goal is to find ways to coexist with COVID-19 as safely as possible, including maintaining safe distances, wearing a mask, and sanitizing your hands. It is a fact that these safe practices save lives."

"Another safe practice that must be followed is protecting our most vulnerable populations," he said. "As we move into phase 2, the safest strategy for those people is to continue to stay at home."

Child care services, including boys and girls clubs and YMCA programs, will be allowed to open.

On May 31, youth sports camps, little league programs, summer camps, daytime and overnight camps, scouting camps, vacation Bible school camps, and 4H camps can reopen.

Abbott said that some professional sports can return on May 31 — but without in-person spectators — including golf, auto racing, baseball, softball, tennis, football, and basketball.

Summer school classes can begin June 1.

"All of these can open as long as they follow safe distancing practices," Abbott said.

openings

keep austin healthy

Austin is the 2nd 'healthiest' city in America, Forbes says

Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash

There are plenty of places for Austinites of varying abilities to be active.

The city's abundance of yoga studios, health-conscious restaurants, and run clubs is paying off: Austin was just named the second healthiest city in the nation in a new study by Forbes Advisor.

The report, "Cities With The Least Healthy (And Healthiest) Populations, Ranked" examined 2021 health data from the City Health Dashboard for 46 of the most populated cities in America. Eight metrics were analyzed for each city, such as the number of heart disease or opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 residents, the percentage of adults with diabetes or high blood pressure, among others.

The study focuses exclusively on physical health, and leans on broad risk factors more than the actual occurrence of specific diseases or conditions.

Austin ranked second to San Jose, California, which was dubbed the No. 1 healthiest city in America.

Forbes found that Austin has the lowest percentage of adult high blood pressure out of all 46 cities in the report, at just 22.5 percent. Only 7.4 percent of Austin residents have diabetes, which is the fourth-lowest rate nationwide. The city also boasts the fifth-lowest percentage of adults who smoke (11.3 percent).

Here's how the report ranked four other metrics for Austin:

Eighth-lowest number of heart disease deaths per 100,000 residents (175.5)
Eighth-lowest number of opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 residents (9.6)
10th-lowest percentage of adults who report having obesity (28.2 percent)
10th-lowest percentage of adults who report being physically inactive (18.5)

Austin has a reputation for being an accommodating city, whether it's through restaurants expanding their culinary offerings for vegans and vegetarians, or through local organizations adding exercise equipment to outdoor trails. And you can't forget about all the new gyms and country clubs opening around the city.

At the opposite end of the study, Detroit, Michigan landed as the most unhealthy city in the country.

Elsewhere in Texas
Though Austin is one of the healthiest cities in the U.S., and the healthiest in the state, several other Texas cities fell far behind. Houston appeared as the No. 12 most unhealthy American city on the list, and unhealthiest in Texas. The report attributes this to a high percentage of adults who report binge drinking (18.2 percent), smoking (17.2 percent), and more.

"Houston has the seventh-highest percentage of adults who report having obesity (37.7 percent) and the eighth-highest percentage of adults with diabetes (12 percent)," the report said.

San Antonio ranked as the 15th unhealthiest U.S. city, followed by Dallas (No. 18), El Paso (No. 22) and Fort Worth (No. 25). Arlington appeared as No. 30, technically making it the No. 18 healthiest city in the U.S.

The top 10 cities with the most healthy populations are:

No. 1 – San Jose, California
No. 2 – Austin, Texas
No. 3 – Seattle, Washington
No. 4 – San Diego, California
No. 5 – Denver, Colorado
No. 6 – San Francisco, California
No. 7 – Boston, Massachusetts
No. 8 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 9 – Colorado Springs, Colorado
No. 10 – Minneapolis

The full report can be found on forbes.com.

austin healthy reports rankings