All Houston parks are closed through Easter weekend, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said April 9.
The decision was made a day after Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo closed all county-run parks for the same three-day weekend. Turner said that while he had previously resisted the idea of closing the parks, his decision was spurred by the fact the city of Houston reported 615 new positive coronavirus cases April 9, the highest jump to date.
The spike was largely due to a back log of test results coming from March, Houston Director of Emergency Medicine Dr. David Persse said.
"I just can't blindly ignore the number," Turner said. "Even though we have three labs reporting electronically results from March ... you make the adjustments based on what is presented."
