Coronavirus in Texas 4/3: San Antonio could close parks; work on the border wall continues

Sparse traffic on Austin's Congress Avenue bridge during the coronavirus pandemic. Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune

Friday’s biggest developments

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  • San Antonio poised to close parks for Easter weekend
  • Work on the border wall continues — without social distancing

San Antonio poised to close parks for Easter weekend

[9 a.m.] San Antonio’s pandemic restrictions are about to include the city’s parks. Mayor Ron Nirenberg is expected to order the city’s parks closed during Easter weekend, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The city’s current stay-at-home order expires before then — on April 10 — but the mayor is asking the city council to extend it through April 30. The parks order, as proposed, would leave walking trails and some greenspace open. — Texas Tribune staff

Work on the border wall continues — without social distancing

[9:05 a.m.] Work on President Trump’s border wall continues during the pandemic, the Dallas Morning News reports. Contractors are building a “mancamp” to house up to 80 workers, and work is continuing — with side-by-side laborers working on the wall near Columbus, New Mexico — near El Paso. A spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the paper the wall is considered “essential business” and was under the impression — incorrectly, according to the News — that the workers were following White House and CDC guidelines for social distancing. — Texas Tribune staff