We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date news about coronavirus in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Check back for updates.

Tarrant County reports 2 more COVID-19 deaths, including healthy younger resident

An elderly Tarrant County resident with underlying health problems and a younger resident with no known conditions have died from the coronavirus, health officials announced Saturday.

The two additional COVID-19 deaths bring the total across the county to nine.

The elderly individual was a resident of Southlake, and the younger person lived in Haltom City, Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja said in a news release. There were no signs the younger individual had any underlying health problems.

Both residents contracted the virus through community transmission, officials said.

“We express our deepest sympathy to the families,” Vaneja said. “Sadly, their deaths are a reminder for everyone that we are seeing more COVID-19 disease across our community.”

Tarrant County has updated its website to include more statistics about local coronavirus cases.

According to the website, 67 percent of the Tarrant County residents who died (six people) were age 65 or older, 22 percent (two people) were age 45 to 64, and 11 percent (one person) was age 25 to 44. Fifty-six percent (five of the deaths) were men, and 44 percent (four deaths) were women.

As of Saturday, there have been 404 confirmed coronavirus cases in the county, with 23 recoveries. Fort Worth has had 144 total cases, while Arlington has had 67.

Number of coronavirus cases in Dallas County climbs over 1,000; man in his 30s dies

The number of coronavirus cases in Dallas County climbed Saturday over a thousand as authorities said they knew of 94 new patients.

Dallas County Health and Human Services also reported that an 18th resident of the county had died of COVID-19. The man was in his 30s and lived in Dallas. He had been critically ill at a hospital and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions, the agency said.

There were 1,015 cases in Dallas County as of Saturday. Of the patients requiring hospitalization, about three-quarters have been either over 60 or have had at least one known high-risk chronic health condition.

Frisco woman, 67, is third coronavirus death in Collin County

A 67-year-old Frisco woman has died from coronavirus-related issues.

She’s the third COVID-19-related death in Collin County and first in Frisco.

The woman had underlying health complications and died in a local hospital early Saturday.

“We are sad to learn of the death of another member of our Collin County community today,” Collin County Judge Chris Hill said in a release. “All of us grieve together with her family during this difficult time.”

The county added 13 new cases for a total of 268, including 100 patients who have recovered. Twenty-seven patients are currently hospitalized, 138 are in home isolation. There have been 993 negative COVID-19 tests and the county is monitoring 354 people for symptoms.

Denton County confirms 15 new coronavirus cases, 81 of 288 patients residents of Denton

Denton County confirmed 15 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 288, including 67 recoveries and six deaths.

No new cases were reported at the Denton State Supported Living Center, the site of 73 infected county residents and employees, plus two that live outside of Denton County.

Denton residents make up 81 of the 288 COVID-19 cases, including 50 residents of the Denton State Supported Living Center. Twenty-eight patients reside in unincorporated Denton County.

Dallas has two drive-through coronavirus test sites. Why doesn’t Fort Worth have any?

While Dallas County has two drive-through coronavirus testing sites, Tarrant County does not have a similar system for widespread public testing.

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley pushed back on any notion that Tarrant County had not advocated strongly enough to acquire one of the two DFW test sites, saying the Federal Emergency Management Agency had ultimately made the decision. Instead it’s a matter of allocating resources where they are most needed, he said.

Dallas County has seen nearly twice as many coronavirus cases as Tarrant County, but with two drive-through test sites, health officials there are able to test more people. At least one Fort Worth councilman said the lack of testing on the western side of the Metroplex has put Tarrant County behind the curve in understanding the local outbreak.

At one point, a test site was being planned for Grand Prairie, on the west side of Dallas County and closer to Fort Worth residents, but a site was opened instead in South Dallas.

As of Friday afternoon, Dallas County had 921 cases of the novel coronavirus and 17 deaths. That’s more than twice as many cases as Tarrant County, which had 383 confirmed coronavirus patients and seven who have died.

During media briefings, Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja has not been able to say how many total tests have been done in Tarrant County because private labs only report positive results. According to data on the county’s website Friday afternoon, a health department-run lab has tested at least 253 Tarrant County residents between March 7 and April 2. Dallas County officials have said the two drive-through test sites there could process up to 5,000 tests a week.

With a larger outbreak in Dallas County and resources being diverted to hot spots in other states, Whitley said, it was not time for Tarrant County to push more aggressively for drive-through testing. If testing became more readily available or if drive-through sites could test everyone regardless of symptoms, he would advocate “loudly” for Tarrant County, he said.

Texas hospitals to receive tens of thousands of rapid COVID-19 tests, Gov. Abbott says

Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday that Texas hospitals are set to receive a shipment of 10,000 rapid COVID-19 tests from Abbott Laboratories, with the number to grow in the coming weeks.

“Right before coming out here I was speaking with the CEO of Abbott Labs to get the updated information about what is available here in the state of Texas. He said that they have shipped already 10,000 of these tests to Texas that should be available now and for us to be able to expect 20,000 tests to be made available each week,” Abbott said on Friday from the Texas Capitol.

The initial shipment will be distributed to seven hospitals, and will expand to about 44 locations, Abbott said. The Illinois-based company has said its tests can detect a positive result within five minutes, and Abbott said the focus of the rapid tests will be for healthcare providers on the frontlines.

“That would be our nurses, our doctors, our first-responders who are dealing face to face with people who may be positive for COVID-19,” Abbott said. “They need to know immediately whether or not they may have COVID-19, so that they would be removed from a situation where they would be transmitting that disease to somebody else.”

Fort Worth could receive up to $200 million for coronavirus relief

Fort Worth could receive nearly $200 million in federal coronavirus relief in Texas’ share of the $2 trillion stimulus package.

State and local governments face rising costs related the pandemic as sales tax revenue drops from business closures and stay at home orders. To help offset those costs, $150 billion has been set aside in the CARES Act stimulus package for local governments.

Each state is guaranteed a minimum of $1.25 billion, but the actual amount allocated is determined by population. It’s up to each governor to dole out the money based on the region’s coronavirus-related expenses. That puts Texas, with the country’s second highest population, in a good place.

Fort Worth will likely come out as a winner in the federal allocation while smaller cities and counties may not see as much.

A provision in the law allows cities and counties with a population of 500,000 or more to receive money directly from the U.S. Treasury Department, bypassing the governor’s office. Up to $8.2 billion is directly available to cities, according to the National League of Cities.

Brandon Bennett, Fort Worth’s health officer and commander of the city’s Joint Emergency Operations Center, said the city would receive “well over $100 million” though specifics were not known yet. City departments for at least a week have been coordinating about how best to divide the money, he said.

“The important thing is that we spend that money as quickly as possible in the places that need it the most,” he said.

The National League of Cities projects that Fort Worth and Austin will get $126 million to $199 million. Dallas, San Antonio and Houston are in line for more than $200 million.

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he expects Tarrant County to get about $3.4 million to $3.5 million. It hasn’t been decided how exactly that money will be spent.

“It could be used to reimburse up front costs or be used to help economic recovery,” Whitley said. “I think we’ll bring all parties together, the chamber, the hospitals and see if we can reach a consensus.”

President Trump hopes sports return ‘sooner than later’ amid coronavirus pandemic

President Donald Trump is hopeful sports return ‘”sooner rather than later” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Every major sports league, including the NBA, MLB and NHL, has suspended play. The NFL has altered its offseason. Nearly every major domestic sporting event over the next two months has been canceled. At the college level, the NCAA canceled March Madness and its spring championships, and starting football on time in the fall remains in jeopardy.

“I want fans back in the arenas,” Trump said. “Whenever we’re ready. As soon as we can. … I can’t tell you a date, but I think it’s going to be sooner rather than later.”

Trump said fans would be able to gather again in mass gatherings and the social-distancing policies would be lifted at some point in the future when it is safe and the virus is better contained.

Trump held a conference call with 12 major league sports commissioners on Saturday, including NBA commissioner Adam Silver, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

American Airlines will use coronavirus funds to save jobs, but workers may get less pay

Many of the roughly 33,000 North Texans who work at American Airlines are likely to see significant reductions in their paychecks, even though the Fort Worth-based company is slated to receive $12 billion in federal stimulus funds.

In a letter to employees Monday, the airline’s chief executive officer, Doug Parker, reiterated that the airline intended to use the estimated $12 billion to ensure that no workers lost their jobs through Sept. 30. About half of the money would come in the form of loans, and the rest in grants to ensure the airline can pay workers without layoffs.

“These funds are being distributed to ensure continuation of essential airline service and protect jobs,” stated the letter, which was signed by Parker and company president Robert Isom. “We intend to apply for these funds and are confident that, along with our relatively high available cash position, they will allow us to fly through even the worst of potential future scenarios.”

But despite those assurances, many employees could see take home pay reductions of 20% or more, mainly as a result of the airline’s dramatic reduction in flights, one airline union official said.

Nearly all international flights and 60% of domestic flights have been suspended for this month — with an expected reduction to 80% of domestic flights in May. The reduction was necessary because of government restrictions on some routes, and an evaporation of customer demand for travel, as people stay home to avoid contracting coronavirus.

On Wednesday unions representing flight attendants at American, Delta Air Lines, United and Dallas-based Southwest came out in opposition of the agreement approved by Congress and signed by President Trump, which allows the federal government to take an equity stake in airlines that accept the money.

That issue aside, other unions representing most of the Fort Worth-based airline’s workers came out in favor of federal assistance. Those labor leaders are also realistic about the short-term effects of flying during a time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dennis Tajer, a Chicago-based American Airlines 737 captain and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, said his organization’s collective bargaining agreement with the airline guarantees pilots a minimum amount of hours of flight time — for example, 73 hours per month for some reserve pilots.