Abbott orders Texas schools to remain closed until May 4

By Gaige Davila
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has extended a previous executive order, closing all Texas schools until May 4, amid the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Initially, in an executive order Abbott made on March 19, schools were to remain closed until April 4, along with gyms, bars, in-room dining in restaurants, hair salons and tattoo studios. Those businesses will remain closed until April 30, according to the new executive order.

Port Isabel Independent School District (PI-ISD) Superintended Theresa Capistran says online and packet instruction will continue at PI-ISD.

“We’re figuring this out together as we go,” Capistran told the PRESS in a phone interview, after Abbott issued the extension. Capistran did not answer whether PI-ISD’s school year will have to resume in the summer, saying “we know now that we will not have school in April.”

As of March 31, there are 3,266 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Texas. Forty-one of those people have died. Twenty-six people in Cameron County have tested positive for COVID-19. Ninety-seven people tested by Cameron County Public Health have tested negative, with 101 tests pending. No deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded in Cameron County.

Read Governor Abbott’s executive order here.