I chat with Isaac V. Sulemana, Chief of Staff, Office of Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez about how Hidalgo County is combating this Coronavirus (Covid-19) in our County. 

I have to hand it to all the people from around the Rio Grande Valley who are putting in 18 hours days from our Private and Local School Systems by creating curriculum online, to Local Restaurants who are hustling to keep their doors open, to the County and City to doing everything they can to keep us safe and informed during this time. 

Questions I ask: 

1-What measures are the county taking if this pandemic gets out of control?  

2-Is there talk of a complete shutdown?   

3-What are the best measures we can take for the safety of Hidalgo County right now?   

4- Do we have a reliable system for real-time public health communication with the public?   

5- We still see a lot of people out in the streets, what measures are being taken to enforce people on the street are “essential”?  

6-It’s probably too early to tell, but when is the County expecting things to get back to normal? Or can things get back to normal after this?  

 7- With almost 3.3 million Americans who have filed for unemployment, how can we help small businesses get through this while still keeping employees employed and safe?   

8-People are asking how they will be able to make rent or mortgage in a time where there simply is no income coming in... what would you advise citizens or landlords to do?   

9- Do we expect to see crime go up?   

10- Certain theories say if we continue to go the route we are going, not only will we have a pandemic on our hands, but we will have a recession, what are your thoughts on this?  

11-What do you say to the people who aren’t taking this seriously?   

12-What is the county doing to educate or guide restaurants in cleanliness and prevention given the circumstances?