ERIC JOHNSON Mayor of Dallas March 22, 2020 The Honorable Greg Abbott Governor State of Texas 1100 San Jacinto Blvd. Austin, TX 78701 Sent via email: luis.saenz@gov.texas.gov Dear Governor Abbott: First, we want to thank you for your steadfast leadership on behalf of all Texans as we do our parts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The undersigned are Dallas-area government, healthcare, business, and education leaders who are concerned about the abilities of hospitals and our communities to respond to the spread of COVID-19. During this unprecedented time, we are reaching out collectively because we strongly believe that now is the time to act swiftly to ensure our healthcare systems and first-responder infrastructure maintain a level of readiness and the capacity to support the Texans who will be infected by COVID-19. As such, we respectfully request that you consider issuing mandatory shelter-in-place orders for the State of Texas, or at minimum, that you very strongly recommend “Safer at Home” directives fashioned in a similar nature to those implemented in New York and California. While the temporary economic ramifications of such decisions weigh heavily on us, we know that public health must be our primary concern. In addition, we believe a statewide approach to limiting non-essential business or commerce -- rather than allowing a patchwork of regulations in neighboring cities and counties -- is imperative to slowing the spread of COVID-19, which does not stop at county lines or city limits. But we also understand that Texas is an incredibly diverse state, and that urban and rural areas may require different sets of rules specific to the challenges faced by both. Our recommendation for statewide shelter-in-place directives are based upon our healthcare system’s ability to handle volume surges in our hospitals. It is imperative that we work to reduce deaths and the number of infected people and try to avoid the outcomes of COVID-19’s spread experienced by some other communities, which have lost to quarantine many frontline medical professionals and first responders. We must do all that we can now to protect our patients, our healthcare professionals, and our first responders so we can save lives and restore the economic vibrancy of our cities and our great state as quickly as possible. Again, we thank you for your leadership through these trying times. We are confident that Texans have the toughness, the generosity, and the resilience to flatten the curve of COVID-19’s spread, and we want you to know that we stand ready to support you in this difficult decision. Sincerely, Eric Johnson Mayor City of Dallas Erol Akdamar President Medical City Healthcare Barclay E. Berdan Chief Executive Officer Texas Health Resources Mark Casanova, MD, FAAHPM President Dallas County Medical Society Dr. Frederick P. Cerise President and CEO Parkland Health & Hospital System Craig Davis President and CEO VisitDallas Sean Donohue CEO Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Thomas Dowling CEO Goldman Sachs Realty Management Christopher J. Durovich President and CEO Children’s Health System of Texas Kourtny Garrett President & CEO Downtown Dallas Inc. James Hinton Chief Executive Officer Baylor Scott & White Health Ricardo López, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools Garland ISD Stephen Love President and CEO Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Ken Malcolmson President and CEO North Dallas Chamber of Commerce John Olajide Founder and CEO, Axxess Chairman Dallas Regional Chamber Board of Directors Frederick Perpall Chairman Dallas Citizens Council Dale Petroskey President & CEO Dallas Regional Chamber Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D. President UT Southwestern Medical Center Robert V. Pragada President and Chief Operating Officer Jacobs Timothy Powers Managing Partner Haynes and Boone, LLP Whit Roberts Deputy Managing Partner Dallas Office of Locke Lord LLP Lesa Roe Chancellor University of North Texas System R. Gerald Turner President Southern Methodist University Kelvin Walker CEO Dallas Citizens Council D’Andre Weaver Superintendent DeSoto ISD Robert L. Walker President/CEO Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children Adam C. Wright President Dallas Baptist University