RAYMONDVILLE — City officials have ordered restaurants to close dining areas, shutting down day care centers while closing public parks to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The action comes after meetings between city and county leaders from across this farming area struggling with one of the state’s highest jobless rates. “We had two days of meetings,” Mayor Gilbert Gonzales said Friday. “We discussed this with all county officials and city officials.”
In Raymondville, restaurants will continue to serve customers through drive-through lanes and carry out services, Gonzales said.
“The restaurants are not being closed,” he said. “They can do business through drive-through and carry out.”
Officials are bracing for job losses.
“These services are going
to be hindered,” Gonzales said. “It’s going to have an economic impact throughout the U.S. — period. It’s going to hit everybody hard.”
Day care centers, parks closing
After two days of meetings, Raymondville officials decided to shut down four adult day care centers and five child care centers, he said. “We are going to keep the community safe the best that we can,” Gonzales said.
Meanwhile, the city’s parks are closing. “We’re closing the parks — period,” he said. Gonzales said officials have shuttered Veterans Park.
“Veterans Park is locked,” he said. Officials are also warning residents to stay out of Eddie Stark Park. “If the PD sees them there, they’re going to be told to go home,” Gonzales said.
