SAN ANTONIO – While restrictions on Texas businesses are easing this weekend, don’t expect to show up at river outfitters for tubes and sunscreen just yet.
The City of New Braunfels is advising tubing fans that river outfitters are not allowed to reopen under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s first phase of reopening the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.
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That first phase, starting Friday, allows restaurant dining areas, movie theaters, shopping malls, museums and libraries to operate at 25% capacity.
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River outfitters are not included on that list, and they will remain closed until approved by Abbott.
David Ferguson, a spokesperson for New Braunfels, said rivers are accessible through private property but parks and other public access points along rives are closed. Playgrounds at city parks and the skatepark also remain closed.
“There are not any new rules regarding tubing and swimming,” Ferguson said.
But the city of New Braunfels will continue operations at the Landa Park Golf Course with limited capacity, as well as reopen park restrooms and tennis courts and disc golf course at Prince Solms Park.
Gyms, bars, public swimming pools, bowling alleys, tattoo and piercing parlors, barbershops and salons are also not allowed to open at this time.
The second phase of reopenings would begin in mid-May if the state is able to maintain health care capacity and limit any flare-up of COVID-19 cases.
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In a news release, New Braunfels Mayor Barron Casteel said businesses are "working together to develop plans to reopen our community while ensuring the health and safety of residents, and complying with the governor’s order.”
"The governor’s order allows us to restore portions of our community while continuing discussions of how future reopenings will be managed to ensure that the health and safety of our residents remains the priority.”
Read this before you venture out in public
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March. The first case confirmed in the U.S. was in mid-January and the first case confirmed in San Antonio was in mid-February.
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