TEXARKANA, Texas - Spurred by Gov. Greg Abbott's statewide disaster declaration Thursday, the city and Bowie County will enact their joint emergency management plan and open an operations center Monday in response to the spread of the new coronavirus.
County Judge Bobby Howell made the announcement at a Friday afternoon news conference in his Texas-side law office. Abbott's declaration opens the potential that local governments will be reimbursed by the federal government for any emergency expenses incurred during the epidemic, Howell said.
The operations center will first serve as a clearing house for information and to coordinate community response, but it can be scaled up to take on other tasks if the situation worsens, Texas-side Fire Chief Eric Schlotter said. The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. A telephone number will be made public Monday.
"We're going to respond the way the community wants us to," City Manager Shirley Jaster said.
Asked if the broader response to the outbreak were an overreaction, Howell pointed to the disruption of markets, travel and education that has occurred so far.
"That makes it a big deal," he said.
Because the coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, are new, it is prudent to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, Dr. Matt Young said.
"It is a virus we haven't seen before, so we have to take it seriously," he said, adding that the virus' potential to mutate once it is prevalent in the population increases the danger.
Young urged the public not to overwhelm local emergency rooms and responders so that resources can be conserved and other patients will not be put at risk. A fever that does not break, a cough with yellow-green discharge and shortness of breath during ordinary exertion are the COVID-19 symptoms that should prompt a call to a doctor, he said.
Rumors that the County Courthouse or the Bi-State Justice Building are about to close are false, and the situation would have to worsen significantly before any essential government functions are ceased, Howell said.
As he did during a news conference Wednesday, Howell sought to reassure the public that local officials and health care providers are well-trained, in communication with one another and state public health agencies, and on alert.
"We have done everything we can," he said.