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Tarrant County commissioners relax some coronavirus-related restrictions

County officials updated an executive order Tuesday to be in line with the latest statewide order allowing elective medical procedures and some business openings.

Updated at 3:32 p.m. with additional quotes. 

Tarrant County commissioners on Tuesday revised the county's stay-at-home order to be more in line with Gov. Greg Abbott's new orders. 

Abbott has eased some of the statewide restrictions allowing some businesses to reopen and allowing elective medical procedures to resume. 

Tarrant County leaders don't plan to take more widespread steps to reopen everything for awhile. 

“Now is not the time to relax,” Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said Tuesday. 

County leaders continue to urge people to stay home and recommend people wear face masks in public. The initial stay-at-home order was instituted in late March.

The order is in place until April 30. 

During a commissioners court meeting Tuesday about COVID-19, Whitley said they are "two to three, maybe four weeks away" from loosening restrictions that were put in place in March.

Some of the changes written into the order Tuesday include now allowing for elective medical procedures, car dealerships and rentals are considered essential businesses and there are some changes to food suppliers. That change should have no impact on restaurants, county leaders said. 

RELATED: Fort Worth mayor self-quarantines after being in 'close contact' with COVID-19 positive case

Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja told commissioners there were more than 80 new COVID-19 cases reported in the county Monday after a glitch this weekend slowed reports, bringing the county’s total to 1,333. 

Tarrant County now has 42 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus. 223 people have recovered.  

“It’s fairly safe to assume we’ve not yet peaked in Tarrant County,” Commissioner Roy Brooks said. 

Brooks asked Taneja how will officials be able to tell that the cases in the county have peaked. 

"We’d need to see a downward trend in new cases for 14 days," Taneja said. 

Another indicator would be a smaller percentage of people who are being tested for the novel coronavirus would have positive results. Currently, about 10% of people tested in Texas have a positive diagnosis. 

Brooks also said Tarrant County should see an increase in testing capabilities soon. 

Whitley said he is pressuring lawmakers in Washington to bring a FEMA testing site to Tarrant County.

“Tarrant County needs to get, at a minimum, one and maybe two test sites from FEMA,” he said.

RELATED: This North Texas mayor is trying to reopen businesses in Colleyville, bucking Abbott’s stay-at-home order

Whitley said it's disheartening to see Tarrant County cities making different rules. 

He said "it's a free country" but said it's important that everyone "be consistent." 

“I wish we could all stay on the same page," Whitley said. “What we’ve tried to do is maintain consistency and when someone goes out and says I’m going to do contrary to what the governor, as well as other local cities, have decided to do and the county, then it makes it a little more difficult.”

He added Colleyville leaders did not let him know they’d be making their own changes.

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