After almost seven weeks of being shut down Cedar Creek Lake’s various restaurant dining rooms and hair and nail salons started reopening May 7, 2020, just in time for Mother’s Day weekend.
Parking lots at many restaurants on Mother’s Day were busy, but a few restaurants remained shuttered as they were in the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic. Traffic was heavy on lake highways in sharp contrast to late March and April when it died down to half as many vehicles and even less some days.
At Tom Finley Park in Gun Barrel City the boat ramp parking lot was about three-quarters full, and a sprinkling of water craft could be seen on the lake. The picnic and swimming beach area of the lake park remained closed.
Vernon’s Lakeside Restaurant parking lot was more than half full, and diners could be seen from the highway on the outdoor patio eating and drinking. Several boats were tied to the pier behind the entertainment spot.
Taverns on Cedar Creek Lake remained closed in accordance with continued restraints, but Cedar Creek Lake Brewery’s café that serves food and beer was open for service on its outside patio with a handfull of customers.
Other restaurants open and busy included the Yellow Rose, Catfish Corner, Hector's, Papa's, Lake Jackson, Jalapeno Tree, Vetoni's and Lakeside Cafe.
Cedar Creek Lake seems to have fared better than many areas, especially the large cities, in terms of infectious cases of COVID-19, according to statistics compiled by the Texas Department of Health Services. The Tri-County Area reported as of May 9 total cases of 36 in Henderson, 116 in Kaufman and 18 in Van Zandt. Many of the Kaufman County cases were in Forney, Crandall, Kaufman and Terrell on the far sides of the county away from Cedar Creek Lake. Only five of the cases are in the Kemp/Mabank area, according to Kaufman County officials. There were only two deaths reported in the Tri-County Area.
In other North Texas counties there were case totals of 5,369, 136 deaths in Dallas; 3,127, 95 deaths in Tarrant; 202, 11 deaths in Ellis, 170, 3 deaths in Smith and 36, 2 deaths in Navarro.
In Texas there were a total of 35,390 cases with 973 deaths, compared to a total in the United States of 1.34 million with 79,707 deaths.
Health officials said it will not be known whether the relaxation of the shutdown will result in a resurgence of cases for at least two weeks. Patrons are urged to maintain social distance in restaurants and other businesses.
The wearing of masks has been spotty in the Cedar Creek Lake area among customers of essential businesses during the shutdown. Many people have complained that the shutdown was unnecessary and that they wanted a return to life as it was, not the “new normal” that health officials encourage. Others argue that those people who refuse to cooperate are endangering the lives of everyone.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott eased restrictions on restaurants, hair salons, barber shops, retail stores, tanning shops, movie theaters, golf courses and other businesses. Other businesses such as taverns, bowling alleys and gyms must remain closed until May 18 in accordance with the governor’s disaster declaration that took effect March 20 to combat the COVID-19 epidemic.
The businesses were allowed to reopen at 25 percent of their original capacity in an effort to help keep the virus from spreading further in communities.
