Coronavirus live updates March 27: Here’s what to know in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date news about coronavirus in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Check back for updates.
Abbott deploys Texas National Guard
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that three National Guard Joint Task Force Brigades will be deployed and operate 10 general support units located throughout the state. Their focus will be on assisting drive through testing sites and bolstering the state’s healthcare infrastructure, according to a news release.
“Texans can be grateful that these troops are now standing their post alongside healthcare professionals and first responders on the front lines of this crisis,” Abbott said in a statement.
Medical staff will be attached to each unit, screening members before they are approved for a mission, and any member showing COVID-19 symptoms will receive treatment. Abbott activated the Texas National Guard last week, and said at a press conference Sunday they would soon be deployed.
Tarrant County using contact tracing to track spread
Tarrant County has used contact tracing to track people who have likely been exposed to COVID-19 and force them into isolation. But a lack of resources, legal barriers and an increase in coronavirus cases could make widespread contact tracing difficult.
“At some point it’s going to get so widespread that that may not happen,” said Tarrant County judge B. Glen Whitley.
Contact tracing is lingo for the process of reaching out to all the people who have been in contact with somebody who has tested positive for coronavirus. Those who have had contact with the person are usually told to self-quarantine for at least 14 days and pay close attention to any symptoms they develop.
TCU moves spring commencement to August
TCU is postponing its spring commencement until August, Chancellor Victor Boschini announced on Friday.
Boschini posted a short video clip with the update amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying commencement would be held on Saturday, Aug. 8. The university’s “senior toast” will be on Friday, Aug. 7.
The commencement had been scheduled for Saturday, May 9 at Schollmaier Arena.
Texas gun stores stay open during coronavirus closures, AG says
Gun stores in Texas must be allowed to stay open for business during the coronavirus pandemic, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ruled Friday.
Counties had different interpretations during stay at home emergency orders about whether the stores are essential businesses.
Paxton’s non-binding ruling states that city and county officials may not use emergency orders to regulate or restrict the sale of firearms.
“State law provides several emergency powers to local governments to control movement within their region during a disaster, which serves our communities well during public health events like the one we’re fighting now,” Paxton said in a statement. “However, local regulation of the sale, possession, and ownership of firearms is specifically prohibited under Texas law.
“Under our laws, every Texan retains their right to purchase and possess firearms.”
Editorial: ‘Essential’ hard to define in coronavirus orders
Defining “essential” businesses has caused a fair bit of confusion, our Editorial Board writes. For one thing, our Dallas-Fort Worth area cities and counties can’t agree among one another — and in some cases have had to specify and redefine what they mean themselves.
The biggest outlier has been Collin County, where local officials declined to distinguish among businesses. The order signed by County Judge Chris Hill pompously declares that “all businesses, jobs and workers” are essential to the local economy.
Confirmed cases exceed 650 in metro area
Tarrant County confirmed 14 new cases Friday for a total of 114.
Dallas County confirmed its seventh COVID-19 death Thursday and 64 new cases Friday to push its total to 367. The latest death was a woman in her 90s with no high-risk chronic health conditions. The 78 cases reported Wednesday were the most confirmed in one day in Dallas County.
Collin County had 88 confirmed cases, including one death, as of Thursday. Denton County confirmed a single-day high of 19 new coronavirus cases Wednesday and reached a total of 83 of Thursday.
That brings the total for counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area to more than 650 as of Friday.
Fort Worth man who beat COVID-19 warns it’s far worse than flu
The Rev. Robert Pace of Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Worth had never felt sicker in his life than during the time he was fighting off the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
“This coronavirus is no joke,” he said. “It’s a very serious illness and it’s been very difficult. I’ve had the flu and I’ve had coronavirus and coronavirus is so much more serious.”
The virus attacked his lungs quickly and having difficulty breathing was scary. Pace now wants to urge everyone to take the recommendations of social distancing seriously to keep the virus from spreading.
“Just stay at home,” he said. “We are called to love our neighbors and we do this just by staying at home and being isolated. That doesn’t mean we don’t have to take care of our neighbors by checking in on them. We can be socially connected while remaining physically separated, so please do that.”
How coronavirus is upending a red-hot real estate market
Fort Worth’s housing market, which just weeks ago was one of the hottest in the United States, has been thrown into uncertainty by the coronavirus.
And it’s happening during what is supposed to be the busiest time of the year for home shopping.
“We’re finding that people who don’t absolutely have to move are staying home, but you’ve got re-locations, too. They’ve already sold their existing home, and they have to move,” said Bryan Farmer, a sales counselor at Meritage Homes.
He said prospective home buyers were still visiting model homes at his company’s Fort Worth developments, although at a slower pace than just a couple of weeks ago. Visitors to model homes must answer questions about their potential exposure to COVID-19, and if they are deemed to not be at risk for spreading the virus they are escorted to visit homes for sale.
“If they pass that test, we can show the homes, as long as we keep social distancing,” Farmer said.
So far, there isn’t much evidence that the price of newly built homes in Fort Worth is dropping. Since 2014, the media price of a home in Fort Worth has increased 58%.
The Dallas-Fort Worth region — especially on the Metroplex’s west side — has long been known as a mecca for affordable, high-quality housing. But the cost of new homes has jumped 58% during the past seven years, and the once-ample supply of houses priced at $250,000 and below in neighborhoods with low crime and highly-rated schools has all but disappeared.
Even new homes priced in the $250,000 to $350,000 range have been gobbled up quickly after they were advertised for sale — often by first-time owners, or older “empty nesters” aiming to downsize.
Economists say the coronavirus likely will lead to a noticeable decline in North Texas homes sales, although they still expect the region to finish 2020 with an increase in sales over the year before.
Man in his 40s is first person to die from coronavirus in Denton County
A Lewisville man in his 40s died Wednesday night of severe complications of the novel coronavirus, authorities said.
The man is the first person to die of COVID-19 in Denton County, Andy Eads, the county’s judge, said as he announced the death Thursday afternoon.
There have been 83 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Denton County, Eads said. The tally includes eight people at Denton’s State Supported Living Center, at which people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live. Testing and treatment at the center has been a focus of public health authorities in recent days.
“We are saddened by this tragic loss but know the worst is yet to come in Denton County as we deal with this highly contagious disease,” Eads wrote in a statement. “We must work collectively to limit the spread of COVID-19. We simply cannot allow this disease to spread to the point of pushing our hospitals beyond their capabilities to cope.”
North Texas manufacturers start making medical equipment for coronavirus needs
The sewing machines stopped turning last week inside of the Lewisville furniture factory, where workers had been churning out around 20 handmade items a day. As one of many “non-essential” businesses during the coronavirus crisis, the owners had to lay off all 41 employees and shutter their operation.
But Mitch Lurie and his wife, DeAnne Lurie, the duo behind DFW’s The Leather Sofa Co., took note of the pleas from local medical professionals who were running low on vital personal protective equipment like masks and gloves. The couple thought about how they could use their own facility and the materials that go into their couches to produce face masks. They would just have to pick up a new trade, fast.
They brought back about 10 workers, temporarily, from unemployment. With zero experience making their exclusive new product, they turned to the Internet to find a good pattern for a standard face mask they could replicate.
In Denton County, businesses including movie theaters, shopping malls and non-essential manufacturing companies have been ordered to cease operations — unless they can retool their business to produce medical equipment in high demand. Dallas County has the same exemption in its stay-at-home order, as medical professionals across North Texas deal with a shortage of life-saving equipment like ventilators and personal protective equipment like face masks.
Lurie, a South African immigrant who “has lived the American dream since 1986,” said he and his wife were motivated by the reports of doctors pleading for help. All they had to do, he said, was have experienced employees work off a pattern loaded into a sewing machine. The seamstresses have learned a little more with each mask.
Lurie sent the first two masks to a man from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who had put a message on Facebook, and he told him they could use more — a lot more.
The Leather Sofa Co. has so far produced 3,000 masks, and on Thursday representatives from various agencies came in to make purchases, from the oncology department at Texas Health Presbyterian, which collected 1,200 masks, to a hospice facility that bought 100.
Dallas County requests physicians, hospital beds from National Guard as COVID-19 spreads
Dallas County requested 250 mobile hospital beds and support from the National Guard to try and prevent hospitals from being overrun as coronavirus cases increase in North Texas.
County Judge Clay Jenkins said he submitted a State of Texas Assistance Request (STAR), which allows a city or municipality to request state and federal aid.
He asked for National Guard nurses and doctors and 250 mobile hospital beds, explaining that the region does not have enough beds to take care of the number of people estimated to contract coronavirus.
Hospitals across the country are preparing for, or already struggling with a lack of hospital beds for virus patients.
Jenkins also urged the Dallas-Fort Worth region to work together to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Texas requests waiver to give more flexibility to Medicaid recipients
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that Texas has requested a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that would grant greater flexibility to Texans on Medicaid amid the novel coronavirus’ spread.
If approved, some of the allowances would include temporarily extending existing prior authorizations for services, allowing services to be performed over telehealth, and streamlining enrollment for out-of-state and new providers.
Cedar Hill State Park closes indefinitely
Cedar Hill State Park officials announced the park will shut down after a person at the park tested positive for coronavirus.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department made the decision to shut down the park until further notice, according to Cedar Hill State Park officials.
It is possible the person was in contact with multiple visitors. Officials recommend that those who visited the park over the past few days be aware of how they are feeling and reach out to their doctor if they do not feel well.
Fort Worth hopes to delay May 2 election until summer
Fort Worth officials don’t want to hold the crime prevention sales tax election on May 2, when residents may still be in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the city can’t wait until Nov. 3 for voters to weigh in on the Crime Control and Prevention District sales tax because it expires before then.
Now they hope Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will give them an option to delay the May election until summer.
Some people are flocking to Tarrant County. Not for toilet paper, but to play golf
Brad Pomeroy drove more than hour from his home in Kemp to play a round of golf at Fort Worth’s Rockwood Golf Course on Thursday.
Unlike nearby Dallas County and Kaufman County closing its golf courses, Tarrant County golf courses remain open to the public amid the coronavirus pandemic.
And golfers are taking advantage, flocking to courses throughout the area.
The City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County issued “stay-at-home” mandates on Tuesday, and closed any non-essential business. Non-essential businesses include gyms and training facilities.
Golf courses are not an “essential business,” but Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price stated this week that individuals may engage in outdoor activities, including golf. For now, that’s why the three city-owned golf courses are open and operating, as well as a number of other public and private courses.
This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM.