Plan of Action

PLAN ACTION OF

by Denton County Judge Andy Eads photo courtesy of Judge Andy Eads

Ifeel it is important to remind our Denton County residents of our ongoing efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. From the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, Denton County has been at the forefront of providing assistance to our residents. We initially took steps to mitigate the spread of this virus, following constitutionally allowed measures.

I firmly believe these measures were appropriate at the time with the limited knowledge we had of COVID-19 and its effects on our population.

We quickly rolled out programs designed to address the needs of those facing eviction and homelessness, needing food assistance, and owning businesses that faced significant economic challenges. We assisted non-profit organizations with personal protection equipment (PPE) and funding to ensure services could still be provided to residents in need. We also supplied PPE to our long-term care facilities, first responders, and health care providers to ensure their safety. We expanded the capabilities of our Denton County Public Health (DCPH) team to investigate and report with transparency on the growing number of cases and rolled out extensive COVID-19 testing locations across the county. When the COVID-19 vaccine became available in January, we immediately launched a major vaccination hub at Texas Motor Speedway, efficiently providing COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of thousands of residents. The White House followed our model in rolling out federal vaccination hubs nationwide. In fact, people from 45 states came to Denton County to receive their shots.

We continue to provide COVID-19 vaccines to any and all who want them. And, soon, we will ramp up our vaccination clinics when booster shots become more widely available to the public.

Once vaccines became available, we asked everyone to thoughtfully and prayerfully consider getting a vaccine. We also encouraged people to do their own research about the vaccine as they made their personal decisions on whether or not to become vaccinated.

We also worked with and continue to work with all of our Denton County schools districts in dealing with the challenges they faced last year with virtual learning and this year as they re-opened campuses.

We meet frequently with state, local, and school officials to keep them informed of the latest information available about COVID-19 and to address any concerns.

And, at each Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesdays, Dr. Matt Richardson with DCPH provides the latest information about the pandemic to the public – information that is available on our Facebook page and on our dentoncounty.gov website.

With the availability of vaccines, testing and PPE currently available in the market, I believe we continue to find ourselves today in a place of personal responsibility.

While being considerate of others, each of us has the responsibility to take whatever individual steps we deem necessary to ensure our own safety and the safety of our loved ones.

We ask that everyone show compassion with each other as individuals make their own decisions about their health and safety. Love and understanding for others, their viewpoints and their individual health choices is an important part of coming together as a broader Denton County community.

We do not need government oversight to supersede our individual rights. But what we do need is to be educated and informed. I truly believe individual choice is what makes America the land of the free.

Together, we can continue to keep

#DentonCountyStrong.

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If you have any questions or comments, please let me hear from you. 940.349.2820 | andy.eads@dentoncounty.com | www.Dentoncounty.gov/countyjudgenewslettersignup