Tarrant County judge ends COVID-19 pandemic disaster declaration

Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare has rescinded the COVID-19 disaster declaration for the county, his office announced Friday.

The disaster declaration has been in effect since March 13, 2020. Commissioners in November voted to continue declaration until Feb. 5.

“Make no mistake: COVID-19 is still with us and may be here to stay,” O’Hare said in a statement. “Our high-risk residents must remain vigilant and take the precautions they deem appropriate to protect themselves and their families.”

O’Hare said that he had complete faith in the county’s “first-rate medical institutions,” including the county hospital JPS Health Network, and that he trusted residents and businesses to “make the best decisions for themselves, their families, their customers, and our community.”

“It is time we re-embrace the full scope of our freedoms and the responsibilities that come with them,” O’Hare said in the statement.

Asked if he consulted with consulted with Public Health Director Vinny Taneja or other public health experts, O’Hare said in a written response: “I’ve talked to multiple doctors and other healthcare experts over the last 18 months.”

The Texas Government Code gives county judges, the top elected officials in Texas counties, the power to declare a local disaster in their counties.

Local disaster declarations give county judges more power than they would normally have, like the ability to order an evacuation when people are in harm’s way, like during a hurricane, or the ability to restrict movement within a disaster area, according to the Texas Government Code.

They can also be used for smaller emergencies. When Tarrant County was experiencing severe drought conditions in July, then-Judge Glen Whitley issued a disaster declaration to proactively prepare for the risk of a severe fire.

Whitley used the authority of the COVID-19 declaration to extend mask mandates in early 2021, before COVID-19 vaccines were widely available. The county’s mask mandate was lifted in March 2021.

Before the end of his term, Whitley indicated that the county would continue to maintain a disaster declaration as long as the state’s declaration remained in place.

“The governor actually renewed his” disaster declaration, Whitley said during a May 24 meeting. “If the governor had not renewed his ... we wouldn’t” have renewed the county’s declaration.

Disaster declarations can also be used to seek federal funding in certain emergencies. County administrator G.K. Maenius said at the May meeting that the declaration allows the county to sidestep some purchasing requirements and buy supplies related to the pandemic more quickly. The declaration also allows the county to seek reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.

Gov. Greg Abbott renewed the statewide disaster declaration last month; the state’s disaster declaration will expire in January unless Abbott chooses to renew it for another 30 days. Texas is one of just 11 states that still has an emergency or disaster declaration in place, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.

The federal public health emergency is expected to expire sometime this year.

“The County will continue business as usual,” O’Hare said in his statement to the Star-Telegram. “It was paramount that the rescindment has no negative financial impact to the County.”

Tarrant County is facing a surge in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. About 92% of beds in Dallas-Fort Worth hospitals were occupied as of Tuesday, according to state data. Physicians are expecting a new wave of COVID-19 infections in the coming weeks after an early peak to flu and RSV seasons.

At least 5,488 county residents have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to death certificate data analyzed by the state health department. An estimated 935 Tarrant County residents died of COVID-19 last year, or an average of more than two people per day, according to the state’s data.

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