Coronavirus live updates March 28: 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.
Staff at JPS Hospital ordered to wear, reuse face masks
JPS Health Network hospitals on Friday ordered all staff to wear routine-use masks and reuse them every week.
“We just want to give all the rest of the employees access to a mask for their work in the hospital. It’s the right thing to do,” said Jessamy Brown, spokeswoman for the network, in a written statement.
“Clinical staff, those who care for patients, wouldn’t use routine-use masks during patient care. This is for walking around the hospital.”
JPS staff are being directed to specific locations to pick up their face masks, where experts are providing informational fliers and fielding questions, Brown said.
Fort Worth accepting personal protective equipment donations for health care workers
The city of Fort Worth is accepting donations of personal protective equipment to help meet the high demand for items such as gloves, masks and gowns for health care workers.
Donations can be dropped off curbside between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth Donation Centers or Southwest Regional, East Regional, Summerglen and Northwest public libraries.
No homemade masks will be accepted and all donated items must be new and unopened.
Confirmed cases exceed 800 in metro area
Tarrant County confirmed 14 new cases Saturday for a total of 128.
Dallas County confirmed its eighth and ninth COVID-19 deaths Saturday and 72 new cases to push its total to 439. The eighth and ninth deaths in the county involved a man in his 50s who lived in DeSoto and a man in his 70s who was a resident of Dallas. The DeSoto man did not have chronic high-risk medical conditions, the county health agency said.
Collin County confirmed 31 new coronavirus cases Friday, including 11 in Plano, and five each in McKinney and Frisco. There have been 118 total cases, including 39 in Plano. Four of the Plano patients work for the Plano Police Department.
Denton County Public Health on Saturday announced the county’s second COVID-19 related death. The patient, an Aubrey man in his 60s, was hospitalized and contracted the disease from local transmission, according to a news release.
Denton County reported 11 new cases on Saturday, bringing its total to 148 cases, 40 of which are at the Denton State Supported Living Center. One additional DSSLC staff member tested positive and is included in Saturday’s total.
Johnson County confirmed four new cases Friday, for a total of six, and issued a stay-at-home order that took effect at midnight Friday.
That brings the total for counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area to more than 800 as of Friday.
40 COVID-19 cases confirmed at Denton living center as new measures take effect
Denton County officials identified 31 more people infected with the coronavirus at the Denton State Supported Living Center on Friday and one on Saturday, bringing the total to 40 cases at the residential facility that has turned into a hot spot for the virus in Texas.
Texas health officials on Friday announced they’re instituting new measures at the facility and providing more resources in an effort to protect residents and staff, and curb the spread of COVID-19. The campus is made up of about 1,470 employees and 450 residents who have intellectual or developmental disabilities.
That includes dedicating multiple homes on campus to isolate residents who test positive for the virus and don’t require hospitalization, according to a news release from Texas Health and Human Services, which is instituting the changes. There will also be up to four ambulances on-campus available to transport anyone who requires hospitalization. THHS is reportedly working with the Texas Division of Emergency Management to secure space in area hospitals.
There were an additional 23 cases identified in Denton County outside of the living center, officials said on Friday.
Denton County confirmed a single-day record of 54 new coronavirus cases, including 31 at the State Supported Living Center.
Three employees of the supported living facility also have tested positive, and their cases are reflected in the county’s report based on the cities where they live. They include one employee who lives outside of Denton County and is not counted in the county’s cases.
The county overall now has 148 cases as of Saturday. Of the total cases, 29 have at one point required hospitalization.
A city without weekend plans: Coronavirus takes away Fort Worth’s culture
I saw somebody going out on Magnolia Avenue Thursday night. Of course, in the coronavirus era, that means I saw a blue Porsche pulling up to Ellerbe Fine Foods and a gloved-up employee dropping a to-go bag into the backseat. That is the extent of going out these days. If you really want to get crazy perhaps you could enjoy the meal at home while listening to a live-streamed concert.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Fort Worth was supposed to be coming to life right now. The Food and Wine Festival was scheduled for next weekend. Jubilee Theatre had produced a musical comedy centered on church. Cory Morrow was booked Friday night at Billy Bob’s. The spacious patio at Bearded Lady was ready to be packed with 20 and 30-somethings drinking craft beer.
But because of the coronavirus Fort Worth is a city without nightlife. It is a city without theater and art and music, a city without fine dining and dance clubs and honky tonks. It is a city without weekend plans. Which also means that Fort Worth —like Austin, Dallas, El Paso and other places across the state and country — is a city without a pulse.
“Your music, your food, your entertainment,” says chef and restaurateur Jon Bonnell, “it’s kind of what drives humanity.”
Bonnell has spent the last several days at his namesake restaurant in south Fort Worth. He’s the guy placing the to-go bag in people’s backseats. Six employees are working around the clock preparing family dinners. Thursday night was fried chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans. They’re serving 500 people a day. But the sales approximate perhaps 10% of a regular weekend.
At his Buffalo Bros. restaurants, with NCAA Tournament games, he would’ve expected to make $28,000 a day. Bonnell suspects he’ll make $2,000. He has already let go of about 230 of his 260 employees and questions whether he’ll make payroll in two weeks.
His years in culinary school and in the industry never prepared him to have to make such painful decisions and to see a city bereft of food culture. “The idea of driving up to the window,” he said, “can’t replace going out to dinner.”
Fort Worth’s top cultural areas are now ghost towns. Runners trample on empty sidewalks on Main Street. The fountains are off at Sundance Square. The sight of what used to pass for routine is now strange. “Usually this is patio weather,” says musician Ryan Higgs. “This is when everyone starts perking up a little bit and hitting the patios at other places. It’s eerie to see Magnolia and Main just dead. I know some people sat on The Chat Room patio the other day and somebody called the city on it. Like ‘are they open?’ I think it was because the weather was nice, and some people just went out and sat on their own.”
Johnson County man dies after taking a cruise
The Johnson County Emergency Management office reported Friday morning that a man in his 60s died of COVID-19 after he contracted the disease while on a cruise.
According to a Facebook post, he died in an out-of-state hospital.
Emergency management director Jamie Moore said that Johnson County Judge Roger Harmon reported during an emergency commissioners court meeting Friday morning that the man died in a California hospital.
Postal employees at Coppell processing center, Tyler office are positive for coronavirus
A U.S. Postal Service employee at the main office in Tyler and another at the North Texas Processing and Distribution Center in Coppell have tested positive for the coronavirus, the agency said.
The postal service believes the risk to the employees’ colleagues is low, agency spokesman Floyd Wagoner wrote in a statement.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that there is no evidence that COVID-19 can spread through the mail.
Clinic temporarily closed after employees test positive for COVID-19
A Southlake medical clinic remained closed on Friday after two employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Baylor Scott & White-Southlake Family Medicine was closed on Thursday after officials received information the two employees had tested positive in the last few days.
Officials said they did not believe any patients were exposed to the staff members when they were contagious as the employees did not interact with patients at the time of their symptoms.
The ages of the employees and their current conditions were not released by officials.
The clinic is temporarily closed as workers are cleaning and sanitizing the facility.
Officials had not released information Friday on when the clinic would reopen.
Seniors flock to special hours at DFW stores, adapt to new ways of grocery shopping
Jan Lane doesn’t shop the way she used to.
Lane, a Granbury resident, patiently stood with her cart in a line of hundreds of other 60-plus citizens that wound around the outside of a Fort Worth Costco before it opened its doors on Thursday morning. A teal medical mask covered the lower third of her face. Clear plastic gloves protected her hands. In the basket of her cart sat a container filled with her own homemade disinfectant wipes.
To make the wipes, Lane slices up paper towels and soaks them in lavender, tea tree and thieves oils with warm water and a touch of aloe. It’s not easy — as anyone who has used a grocery store in the past two weeks can attest — to find wipes.
She was capitalizing on Costco’s new service on Tuesdays and Thursday allowing anyone over the age of 60 to begin shopping one hour before opening. The policy, which is similar to those implemented by other major retail stores, reflects a new reality in American supermarkets during the coronavirus pandemic. Shelves are empty, checkout lines are crowded and those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 can be put at risk.
Lane’s shopping routine begins with her disinfecting her cart before she touches the handle and sets down her purse. As she practices social distancing, she will fill her cart with the essential items she needs in order to avoid another trip for a little while. When she gets home, she washes fruits and vegetables and discards packaging.
She began treating the coronavirus more seriously about 10 days ago when she saw a report on ABC’s 20/20 about “how fast it’s spreading and how dangerous it is.” She already wears a medical mask in her home to take care of her immunocompromised brother, so she started putting one on when she went outside too.
“I put my faith in God and God will get us through this,” she said standing outside of Costco on Thursday morning. “But I don’t want to be dumb and ignore anything.”
Half of Fort Worth businesses can’t survive a few months of coronavirus, chamber says
Nearly half of Fort Worth businesses can’t survive more than a few months of isolation caused by the coronavirus, a survey shows.
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce reports that 49% of business owners surveyed can’t sustain their businesses “longer than a few months if the current trend continues.”
Fort Worth and Tarrant County have issued emergency declarations forcing many businesses to close and others such as restaurants to offer takeout and delivery-only operations, as a way to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus through the North Texas community.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks for a lot of our small businesses,” Brandom Gengelbach, chamber president, said in a statement. “We’ve been making contact with as many of our members as we can to assess their needs and try to figure out ways we can help. We’re trying to remain positive and let them know that we are still here for them and we will continue to be available once we come out of this situation.”
Business owners reported that their top concern was cash flow, especially their monthly rent.
In-home testing begins in Tarrant County for residents monitored by health officials
An in-home testing program for residents being monitored for COVID-19 began Friday in Tarrant County.
Trained MedStar personnel will go to homes and complete a medical assessment and collect a sample needed for additional testing.
The program is a partnership between Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) and MedStar.
Officials with TCPH will provide MedStar with test kits and a list of people who may require in-home testing.
Bud Kennedy column: Texas knew a pandemic was coming. We had a plan. But then the Legislature botched it.
Every now and then, the state of Texas almost — almost — does the right thing.
Back in 2014, after the Ebola epidemic, the Texas Senate was ready to fix confusing local disease orders and stockpile a bunch of surgical masks.
A whole task force of 15 doctors and emergency officials wrote the plan. A bill by a Georgetown surgeon passed the Senate, 26-4.
Then it went nowhere.
Now, we have too many confusing local disease orders and not enough surgical masks.
“Right now, we could have been releasing the state stockpile” of masks, said Dr. Donald K. Murphey of Austin, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in Fort Worth for 22 years.
“We’d be ready.”
Instead, the Texas House chose to ignore experts, save money. and risk lives.
This story was originally published March 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates March 28: Here’s what to know in the Dallas-Fort Worth area."