Local coronavirus update — March 19

The coronavirus pandemic has created a great deal of rapidly-changing news created by governments, schools, businesses and nonprofits that serve the southern Denton County area. In case you missed any of our news stories from earlier in the day, here are the most important coronavirus news items from southern Denton County on Thursday, March 19, with links for more information.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order that:

• Restricts all social gatherings to 10 people or fewer
• Prohibits eating and drinking at bars, restaurants and food courts, or from visiting gyms or massage parlors. The use of drive-thru, delivery and pickup options are still allowed
• Prohibits people from visiting nursing home, retirement facilities and long-term care facilities unless to provide critical assistance
• Closes all schools

The executive order goes into effect at midnight Friday and will end at noon on April 3, unless it is extended. Click here for more.

Denton County Public Health confirmed four more cases of COVID-19 in the county, bringing the total to nine patients. The new patients include residents of Denton, Frisco and Lewisville, and two cases are believed to be travel-related while the other two are believed to have been from local transmission. As of Thursday, there are nearly 100 other known cases in the rest of North Texas, including three deaths. Click here for more.

The Flower Mound Town Council postponed the town’s May election until November and extended the town’s disaster declaration for a month. Click here for more.

The city of Roanoke also issued a disaster declaration Thursday. Its guidelines are not more restrictive than the state’s.

Walmart announced that all of its stores, including Neighborhood Markets, will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8:30 p.m. daily. Stores that usually open later than that, however, will open at their regular time.

Southside Bank, which has a Flower Mound location at 2341 Justin Road, announced Thursday that beginning Monday, it is temporarily changing its lobby service hours to 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. The drive-thru will operate under normal business hours.

For our other coronavirus-related news stories on other days, click here.

For more information about the coronavirus, how it spreads and what to do if you develop symptoms, click here.