Mayor dispels rumors of city closing and urges people to stay calm

"I anticipate we are going to be in this situation for the next several weeks if not for the next several months," said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

As the number of COVID-19 cases rises, so does the anxiety and the rumors.

Turner wants to make it clear the city is open for business.

"Employees are expected to come to work," the mayor said. "We will all be very responsible in terms of how we do things that is we are not going to be engaging in handshakes or hugging and exercise some space as we do our work for the city."

So why are we seeing droves of people waiting to get in the grocery store? Why is toilet paper good as gold and water a hot commodity?Truth is, there's really no good reason for the grocery store bum rush.

"We are taking this coronavirus COVID-19 very seriously," Turner said. "But I do want people to take a collective breath I don't want the fear of the virus to do more harm to us than the virus itself.

Our water system is good and the mayor says no one, not even delinquent city of Houston water customers, will have to worry about having their water turned off before April 30.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE