The city of Galveston will be ordering bars and amusement parks to close and restricting restaurants to carryout service due to the coronavirus outbreak for 15 days, city officials said.

Galveston Mayor Jim Yarbrough told the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday that he will sign two separate ordinances: to close “public amusement venues” such as Pleasure Pier, Moody Gardens and bars effective at 4 p.m. Tuesday, and limit restaurants to pickup, delivery and drive-through orders, effective 5 a.m. Wednesday. Hotel restaurants will still be able to serve guests only.

Yarbrough indicated the decision for the seaside island — a tourist destination for much of southeast Texas - to close these establishments was partially motivated by Harris County and the city of Houston’s decision to do the same, effective Tuesday morning. But his chief concern is that there are likely many unknown coronavirus cases on the island that could put people at risk.

“My gut feeling, my common sense, we have a lot of cases in (Galveston) county and the city we don’t know about,” Yarbrough said.

The city of Galveston’s new ordinances follow its announcement Monday to issue an emergency declaration, allowing the city to ensure local taxpayers will be reimbursed for “certain expenses” accrued by the municipality as a result of the virus outbreak.

Yarbrough’s decision came moments after the Galveston County Health District announced a second resident — a man in his late 40s from the northern part of the county — had tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The man presented to a University of Texas Medical Branch clinic with symptoms including fever, dry cough, sore throat, headache and body ache. Test results were delivered to the health district Monday night showing he tested positive for coronavirus. Results are pending confirmation from the Houston Health Department laboratory.

An initial investigation shows the man had not recently traveled or come into contact with another infected person, suggesting the first signs of community spread of the virus in Galveston County.

“We are very concerned about this, we believe this represents a significant change,” said Dr. Philip Keiser, the county health authority.

Despite this concern, both Keiser and County Judge Mark Henry stopped short of saying they would recommend bars and seating areas of restaurants shut down in order to contain the virus. Henry said he believes Harris County — where Democrats hold a majority on the commissioners court — may have broken the law by issuing that order on Monday.

“I do not believe I have the legal authority to do that,” said Henry, a Republican. He added is hamstrung both by state law and the U.S. Constitution, which, “forbids me from depriving liberty of property without due process.”

For now, Keiser said, he is recommending county residents abide by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, which, he acknowledged are “a moving target,” as public health experts continue to learn more about the virus every day.

“We want you to look at CDC guidelines, we want you to look at what Harris County is doing and we want you to think about, ‘Is (going out to a restaurant or bar) something I need to do?’” Keiser said. “I can honestly tell you, you get more cooperation when you persuade people than when you start telling them, ‘We want you to do this.’”

Yarbrough, a former county judge, said he had no such qualms making that decision. He agreed with Henry that county judges are more limited in the laws they can impose, but that a city’s emergency statutes give him the latitude to close bars and the seating areas of restaurants.

“I don’t want to get into the argument whether who’s right and who’s wrong, it doesn’t matter at this stage,” Yarbrough said of the city’s and countys positions. “We think we have the ability under the statutes and under the emergency declaration to close bars and restaurants and take the actions we deem necessary.”

nick.powell@chron.com