El Pasoan on governor’s task force says more testing is needed before reopening can occur
EL PASO, Texas -- The only El Pasoan picked to be on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s strike force tells ABC-7 that more testing is what it will take to reopen El Paso businesses.
Prominent businessman and banker Rick Francis said more testing will allow for a clearer picture of the spread here, and will also allow for people to better protect themselves.
Stopping the spread can help trigger the reopening of businesses, Francis said, noting that “with each passing day our economy continues to deteriorate and people’s lives, financials lives are deteriorating.”
But Francis explained that reopening will take a balance between dollar signs and vital signs, adding that the community must be safe before businesses can reopen.
“We have to make sure we don’t have a second wave as we begin to open things back up, (which could happen) if we open them up too fast,” said Francis.
Some downtown El Paso business owners are pushing to reopen before it's too late from them economically.
“The sooner the better," said bodega owner Jesus Macias, "(how about) next week.”
Macias’ bodega is one of just a handful of downtown businesses open right now. Many shops are closed, paining a grim portrait of the El Paso economy during the 2020 pandemic.
“The economy is really, really low right now," said Macias. "A lot of people are suffering. Obviously they’re suffering because of the virus, but more people are suffering because they don’t have any money.”
Macias, a life-long El Pasoan who has operated his downtown bodega for 24 years, said he has never seen anything like this before. Downtown shops like his rely on Mexican consumers, who can no longer cross the border to shop.
The governor’s pick to help restart the economy in the Borderland said being a border community is both a strength and an Achilles' heel.
“One of our great strengths are our two communities being right together. Right now in this pandemic, it is a weakness because we have people going back and forth across our border,” said Francis.
