Residents of Arlington center where man died of coronavirus to be tested, Abbott says
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday announced that everyone at the Texas Masonic Retirement Center, where the first Tarrant County resident died from COVID-19, will be tested for the coronavirus.
“This is a heartbreaking death,” Abbott said during an afternoon press conference at the Arlington Emergency Management office.
The governor said he has talked to the White House and vice president’s office about the death of Patrick James.
Among the next steps at the center: test all 177 residents there for coronavirus, limit visitors to the center, determine who James and his wife have had contact with and make sure those people are tested, and limit movement within the center.
“No one knows who has exposure,” Abbott said.
By the time Abbott arrived in Arlington, an additional 2,500 test kits had already arrived to help with the local testing.
Center officials said they will cooperate with any testing that the state wishes to do but that as of Wednesday afternoon, no testing had taken place.
Patrick James, 77, was admitted to Arlington Memorial Hospital on March 10 and was tested for the coronavirus on Saturday, according to Shelley Brandt, his daughter-in-law. He died Sunday and his family found out Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, Brandt told the Star-Telegram.
Patrick James had previously seen a doctor and believed he might be suffering with the flu, but tests for the flu and strep throat were negative, Brandt said. Patrick James was diagnosed with double pneumonia after being hospitalized, Brandt said. COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia.
“He (Patrick James) passed away shortly after midnight on Sunday,” Brandt said.
While in the hospital, Patrick James was in isolation in the intensive care unit, she said. His wife has experienced symptoms but hasn’t needed to be hospitalized, she said.
“Her husband passed away, and we cannot go to her side to comfort her and she’s sick and in quarantine,” Brandt said. “We are doing what we can by phone and helping her as best we can from outside.”
Patrick James’ wife, Jean James, has self-quarantined at the couple’s Masonic Center duplex for the past 13 days and has not gone anywhere or seen anyone, said Rhenda Gray, center spokeswoman. Whether Jean James or Patrick James had any contact with anyone else before they were isolated is unknown.
“There will be a full trace of all movement by anybody who had any contact with Patrick James or his wife, and they will all be tested,” Abbott said.
It is not known at this point whether Jean James has been tested for the coronavirus, Gray said.
“Even if we knew we could not say because of privacy laws,” Gray said. “We are providing special care for her right now.”
People other than the center’s residents, employees and public health officials no longer have access to the facility, Gray said. The driveway that leads to the facility has been blocked off. No face-to-face contact is taking place, according to Gray.
All group or public activities have been canceled campus-wide, she said.
Residents are sheltering in place and are allowed only telephone contact. Staff providing meals leave food outside the doors of the areas where the residents live and health checks are made by telephone, Gray said.
“This is to protect the staff as well as the residents, because we are concerned about everyone,” she said. “Normally, everyone is moving around and it’s a bustling place. Now, things are quiet.”
More than just statistics
As soon as the diagnosis for Patrick James was confirmed, the center’s administrative staff was contacted by officials with the Texas Department of Health and the Tarrant County Health Department about how to proceed with the next steps, Gray said.
The Jameses lived in one of 12 duplex units that house about 24 residents total, Gray said. Those units are about a five-minute walk away from a nursing home facility that is also a part of the Masonic Center that houses about 43 residents, Gray said. The nursing home residents have separate dining areas and do not eat with the other residents, she said.
The staff is screened once a day for coronavirus symptoms and residents are interviewed by telephone twice each day and asked about their health, Gray said. Neither Patrick or Jean James were monitored prior to the diagnosis and would not have been monitored as they were residents at an independent living facility and were independent, Gray said.
Residents participate in community activities as little or as much as they wish, Gray said. The Jameses were active parts of the retirement facility community, she said.
“These people are more than just statistics,” Gray said. “They were vital members of this community and are loved and will be missed by their friends and relatives. Our hearts go out to the family.”
There are more than 70 known cases of coronavirus in Texas. At least three Texans, including one in Tarrant County and one in Collin County, have died from COVID-19.
Others at the press conference included Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt and Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd.
During the press conference, social distancing protocols were enforced and everyone was screened before entering the building. Anyone attending the press conference had their temperature checked and was asked questions such as whether they have been short of breath, been exposed to anyone with coronavirus or had run a temperature recently.
Though more than 25 members of local and national media arrived for the briefing, only a few were allowed into the room with officials.
Abbott last week issued a statewide disaster declaration, which authorizes a variety of responses and reallocates state resources. On Tuesday, he activated the Texas National Guard, getting troops ready but not yet deploying them across the state.
Earlier this week, Tarrant commissioners extended a emergency declaration to 90 days, which lets them limit crowds and take action to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus. And new restrictions this week in Fort Worth called for restaurants and bars close their dining rooms and move to delivery or takeout, following a move by Dallas city and county officials that closed bars, dine-in restaurants, gyms and theaters.
On Tuesday, the first COVID-19 case of local transmission in Tarrant County was announced: a health care worker who lives in Grand Prairie, health department officials said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 2:13 PM.
