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

Here’s what happened when Fort Worth businesses reopened after coronavirus closures

If you’re planning to eat at Joe T. Garcia’s this weekend, don’t look for the legendarily long line for patio seating to tell you if the Mexican food restaurant is open.

It is open, for patio seating only right now, but the line won’t be there.

Joe Lancarte, one of the family owners of the restaurant, said he’s allowing 15% of capacity — about 150 people — to eat on the patio at any given time. Once that number is reached, people will be asked to wait in their cars until a table opens. No customers are being served inside at least for this weekend.

“It’s going good,” he said Friday, shortly after 11 a.m., when Joe T’s opened as allowed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest executive orders. “So many people are ready to get out.”

Abbott’s most recent order creating a phased-in approach to reopening Texas after stay-at-home orders in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic were lifted. Retail shops, restaurants and movie theaters were allowed to open Friday at 25% capacity.

But not all businesses opened their doors.

While streets were much busier Friday, parking lots at shopping areas ranging from Hulen Mall to the University Park Village center were mostly empty. Cars — several with masks dangling from rear-view mirrors — frequently drove through the parking lots, as drivers tried to determine which stores were open.

A Fort Worth man died alone on his couch at 37. He had coronavirus, a test revealed.

The symptoms were mild at first, but by the time Glenmar Gabriel’s family knew he tested positive for the coronavirus, it was too late.

He was gone, at the age of 37.

He died on April 5. His test results came back April 6.

Though he tested positive, a medical examiner’s report states the cause of death is pending. Gabriel’s loved ones may not know the results for several weeks, possibly months.

They know that he had been in good health, and that he died alone on his couch.

Some of the many sad scenarios created by the coronavirus are the families left to wonder why and how their loved ones died, while knowing they did so alone.

Known lovingly to his family and friends as “Boss Gee,” Gabriel had a love of beaches and traveling. He liked to say, “A day at the beach gives me space to dream.”

Gabriel lived in the Fort Worth city limits, just south of Euless, and worked at DFW International Airport in the fleet service crew for Envoy, a subsidiary of American Airlines.

His is a COVID-19 case where there are more questions than answers.

Tears fall as 25-year-old coronavirus patient recovers, leaves Fort Worth hospital

Wilifredo “Willie” Merlin-Montoya wept Wednesday afternoon as he got hugs from his family just outside of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he was reunited with his brother.

After all, Merlin-Montoya, one of the first patients at the Fort Worth hospital to be treated for coronavirus, had just seen his family for the first time in 42 days after fighting and recovering from the disease.

“I just got so emotional what with the support of the hospital and my family,” the River Oaks resident said Friday in a telephone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as his voice quivered. “I almost lost my life.”

Merlin-Montoya, who donned a mask, was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon amid applause and cheers from the staff at Texas Health Fort Worth.

“We were surprised how quickly he went from speaking with us to needing immediate care,” said Kelli Long, manager of the medical surgical progressive care unit at Texas Health Fort Worth.

Some Fort Worth bingo halls plan to reopen Friday amid coronavirus. The city says they can’t

After being closed for weeks, some, but not all, bingo halls are hoping for a big payout as they partially reopen across the Fort Worth area Friday amid the coronavirus outbreak.

But they’re risking their luck, because the city of Fort Worth says bingo halls are not part of the first phase of businesses allowed to open their doors, and it will investigate those that do.

Starting Friday, restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters, malls, libraries and museums can begin operating at 25% capacity as part of a phased reopening of Texas businesses that Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday. Some Fort Worth business owners said they’re reopening out of necessity — a day after Texas reported a single-day high of 50 COVID-19 related deaths and 1,033 new cases.

Abbott’s executive order also explicitly notes that “interactive amusement venues such as bowling alleys and video arcades” are still prohibited from opening in the first phase. But bingo hall owners argue they don’t fall within that category.

Cathy Anderson, owner of Town and Country Bingo off of Jacksboro Highway, said she spoke with people who had been in contact with the governor’s office, “and I was told that we do have the OK to open.” Anderson declined to provide more details on who she spoke with.

“We were considered to be under entertainment. They’re opening movie theaters — entertainment,” Anderson said Thursday. “So we fall underneath the entertainment (category), which is also non-essential retailers.”

However, Anderson said Friday afternoon that she would not be reopening Town and Country Bingo like she’d planned to after hearing other bingo halls were closing their doors in light of the city’s guidance.

Hours ahead of start of reopening, Texas records single-day high 50 coronavirus deaths

Texas is about to start reopening just as the state experienced one of its biggest spikes during the coronavirus pandemic.

State health officials reported a single-day high of 50 coronavirus-related deaths and 1,033 new cases on Thursday, a day before the state is allowing businesses to reopen.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s “stay-at-home” orders expired at midnight Thursday. He is allowing businesses, including nonessential retails stores, malls and movie theaters to reopen to limited customer capacity beginning Friday.

Texas has the second-largest economy among the 50 states and one of the largest in the world.

There have been 119 pandemic-related deaths in Texas over the past three days, the deadliest stretch since the first reported COVID-19 death in the state on March 17, according to the Associated Press.

The 1,033 new cases reported on Thursday are the third-most in a single day during the pandemic. The most in a day was 1,441 on April 10, according to The Texas Tribune. Texas has reported more than 28,000 coronavirus cases as of Thursday evening.

Thursday was an especially rough day for DFW-area counties, including Tarrant County which reported a single-day high seven deaths and 97 new cases. Dallas County reported a single-day high of 179 cases and five more deaths. Harris County, which includes Houston, has reported a state-leading 109 of the 782 COVID-19 deaths in Texas.

Tarrant County reports single-day high 7 coronavirus deaths, all Fort Worth residents

Tarrant County reported a single-day high seven coronavirus deaths on Thursday and 97 new cases, the most this week.

The seven deceased were all residents of Fort Worth.

Fort Worth residents have made up 42 of the 68 COVID-19 deaths in the county. The county has reported 2,246 pandemic cases, including 982 in Fort Worth. There have been 485 patient recoveries reported.

The latest deaths include a man in his 50s, three men in their 70s, two women in their 80s and a woman in her 90s.

All seven had underlying health conditions.

“We are again saddened to report more deaths in our community,” Tarrant County Health Director Vinny Taneja said in a news release. “It underscores our responsibility to work together to protect everyone, especially those who are most vulnerable.”

Of the 68 COVID-19 deaths in the county, there have been 32 white, 18 black, 15 Hispanic, two Asian/Pacific Islander and one American Indian. Of the total confirmed cases in the county, 29% have been Hispanic, 27% white, 17% black, 5% Asian/Pacific Islanders, 1% labeled as “other,” and 22% of the cases reported no race or ethnicity.

Dallas County has single-day high coronavirus cases; 5 more deaths include man in 20s

Dallas County reported five more coronavirus deaths and a single-day high 179 new cases on Thursday.

The latest deaths include a Balch Springs man in his 20s and four Dallas residents in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Three of the deceased were residents of Dallas-area long-term care facilities.

The county has confirmed 3,531 COVID-19 cases and 104 deaths.

County health officials attribute the increase in positive tests — the previous single-day high was 148 — to a change in CDC guidelines that allows front-line workers such as grocery store employees to be tested without symptoms at the county’s drive-thru testing sites.

“All of the above information points to the importance of limiting unnecessary shopping trips and avoiding crowds in this worsening situation,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a news release. “With the Governor’s order set to open still more businesses [Friday], your smart decisions to protect you, your family and the community are more important than ever.”

Jenkins urged residents to continue staying home as much as possible.

“It’s beautiful weather and we’ve been cooped up for over a month but the underlying advice based on science from the health experts has not changed,” he said.

Denton, Collin counties report more deaths; Denton to open first drive-thru test site

Denton and Collin counties each reported an additional coronavirus-related death Thursday.

A resident of the Denton Rehabilitation Center in his 80s died at a local hospital. Denton County reported 10 COVID-19 cases Wednesday and 17 Thursday for a total of 765, including 367 recovered patients and 21 deaths.

Collin County reported the death of an 83-year-old Plano woman late Tuesday at an area hospital. Officials report she had underlying health conditions. She tested positive for COVID-19 on April 21.

Collin County reported 18 and 14 new coronavirus cases Wednesday and Thursday for a total of 724, including 496 recovered patients and 20 deaths. The county reports 7,517 negative COVID-19 tests and health officials are monitoring 1,160 people for symptoms.

Denton County Public Health is opening its first drive-thru testing center from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at the DCPH building, 535 South Loop 288 #1003, in Denton.

Prospective patients must have experienced COVID-19 symptoms within the past seven days. To register, call 940-349-2585. Two hundred tests are available on Saturday, and health officials plan to offer additional drive-thru testing sites in the future.

Texans who don’t go back to work due to coronavirus may keep their unemployment benefits

As the first wave of businesses prepare to reopen their doors, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that Texans who choose not to return to work for certain reasons related to the novel coronavirus may be eligible to continue to receive unemployment benefits.

Abbott announced the Texas Workforce Commission has issued new guidance to allow for exceptions to the agency’s longstanding policy that put people at risk of losing their unemployment benefits if they refused an offer of suitable work without good cause.

While each claim will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, workers may continue to receive benefits if they refuse work for a handful of reasons, including:

• If they are 65 years or older or have household members who are. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those 65 years and older are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing complications due to it.
• Have tested positive for COVID-19, or have a family member who has tested positive from a source “authorized by the State of Texas.” They must have either not yet recovered or have not yet had 14 days pass since testing positive.
• If they are currently quarantined for 14 days due to exposure to a case of COVID-19.
• Lack childcare and have no alternatives due to a school or daycare closure.

“This flexibility in the unemployment benefit process will help ensure that Texans with certain health and safety concerns will not be penalized for choosing not to return to work,” Abbott said in a statement.

TCU plans to reopen campus this fall despite coronavirus, says budget cuts are needed

TCU is making plans to bring students back to campus later this year.

In an email sent Thursday afternoon, Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. told staff and faculty that the goal is to reopen campus in the fall, with a proposed start date of Aug. 24.

“As an institution of higher learning, we must preserve our academic environment, the intellectual advancement of our students, and all that the TCU experience promises,” stated the email, obtained by the Star-Telegram. “As we continue to develop our fall plans, we will abide by government and public health guidance because our responsibility to the TCU community is foundational.”

At the same time, the private university has been financially affected by the novel coronavirus, as have colleges across the country, and officials are working to reduce TCU’s 2021 operating budget by 20%, according to the email.

TCU in recent months sustained hits to its budget by moving classes online, canceling study abroad programs and refunding room and board costs to students who live on campus.

Now, as the world’s economy remains uncertain, there could be future financial hurdles for the college, ranging from a potential drop in enrollment to fewer or smaller endowments.

Texas A&M and Texas Tech universities also plan to reopen in the fall.

Let science lead, not ‘fiction that comes from White House,’ Fort Worth pastor says

It is unfortunate that the pursuit of dollars has been placed above the health of the people, Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks and a group of black Fort Worth pastors who band together under the title of Faith and Community Leaders United said Thursday.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s order allowing some businesses and institutions to begin a soft opening on Friday is premature and not in the best interest of Tarrant County residents, according to William T. Glynn, Mount Olive Baptist Church pastor. Abbott’s plan is also not in the best interest of the people in the Fort Worth-area congregations that the pastors who were gathered represent, those pastors said.

Abbott on Monday said Texas businesses will reopen in three phases. On Friday, restaurants, movie theaters, malls, retail stores and more will be able to open doors to 25% occupancy. Abbott said his executive order supersedes local orders, which have often been stricter than his, effectively forcing the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant County to follow along.

“How many more folk will lose their lives, how many more people will have to undergo suffering and sorrow because of this decision you have made?” Glynn asked of Abbott.

The pastors and Brooks made these comments during a press conference Thursday while standing on the back parking lot of the Mount Olive Baptist Church. The re-opening flies in the face of advice from national and Tarrant County health care professionals, said Glynn, the Faith and Community Leaders United president.

“Let us be led by the facts of science and not the fiction that often comes from the White House,” Glynn said. “Until there is a vaccine or cure, we have to use common sense.”

Glynn urged people to continue to use what has worked so far — social distancing — and encouraged them to stay at home unless it was necessary for them to leave. Pastors have the moral responsibility to keep people safe, and Glynn encouraged pastors to continue the practice of electronic worship that many churches implemented weeks ago.

When these Fort Worth twins saw hardship caused by coronavirus, they decided to help

When twin sisters Claire and Catherine McKnight saw news reports about millions of people losing their jobs because of the economic fallout from COVID-19, they decided to put their business and culinary skills to work.

The twins, who are 12, took their grandmother’s chocolate turtle recipe and created boxes of treats for family and friends. The sweets proved to be so popular that the girls started selling them so that they could donate the proceeds to the Tarrant Area Food Bank.

Claire and Catherine presented a check for $2,000 to the food bank on Wednesday.

“People are losing their jobs during the coronavirus. People are losing money,” Claire McKnight said.

Their mother, Allison McKnight, said her daughters are “adamant bakers” and they turned their kitchen into a hub for their business, C.C. Treats.

“This has been a good lesson for my girls on the cost of running a business and the time and energy that goes into it,” she said.

Risk coronavirus or forfeit unemployment benefits? Texas workers face tough decision

Cherish Maynard got the call Tuesday afternoon that in two days, she would have to go back to work.

The Grand Prairie mall she works at decided it would be partially reopening amid the novel coronavirus’ outbreak. And as the general manager of a Starbucks there, Maynard would have to be the first to go in Thursday to begin the process of cleaning the store that had been closed for nearly a month, placing orders for milk and coffee and figuring out which of her 22 employees would be able — and willing — to return to work at reduced hours.

But more than work was on her mind.

Returning to the store and interacting with customers could put her at greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, which she worried she might then bring to her home in Euless and her 4- and 9-year-old sons. But money has been tight, bills still need to be paid and even though her last day of work was April 4, she hadn’t received her first check for unemployment benefits until last week. It was $1,009.

And under Texas’ unemployment benefits system, turning down the opportunity to go back to work could put Maynard at risk of losing that support altogether. She loves her job, but is apprehensive about the risks.

“If I don’t go to work after my job told me to go back, my unemployment gets cut off, and then I don’t make any money at all,” Maynard said. “So there’s no choice in the matter. When they tell you to go, you got to go.”

Maynard is one of the many Texans who work in restaurants and retail stores who face difficult decisions if their employers choose to reopen at a limited capacity starting Friday.

Texas undocumented desperate for work amid coronavirus, ‘even if it means getting sick’

With the last $50 in his pocket, Victor walked around downtown Fort Worth earlier this week looking for work, but most businesses were closed or not taking applications, he said.

Victor, 48, had worked at two restaurants for more than a decade.

In the morning he would make sandwiches at a shop near the University of North Texas Health Science Center, and in the afternoon, he’d prep lunch and dinner plates at an upscale Mexican restaurant downtown.

But Victor lost both jobs when the county closed all non-essential businesses more than five weeks ago in response to the novel coronavirus.

“I’ve never been unemployed,” said Victor, who came to the United States from Guerrero, Mexico, in 1992, and asked that his last name not be used for fear of persecution because he is in the country illegally.

“I’ve never missed a day of work or a payment but that is over. My wife and I don’t know what we are going to do,” he said. “My main concern is finding work even if it means getting sick.”

Six million immigrants work in the industries hardest hit by the pandemic, according to The Migration Policy Institute, an independent, non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. They include restaurants, hotels, office cleaning services, and in-home child care.

NASCAR is returning May 17, but when will it come back to Texas Motor Speedway?

Texas Motor Speedway plans to host every race weekend this season, track president Eddie Gossage said.

The makeup date for the postponed spring race weekend is not known yet, but it won’t happen in May. And it’s not expected to run as part of a “doubleheader” this summer following the IndyCar’s Genesys 600 on June 6.

NASCAR announced plans to resume its season on May 17 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. That’s the first of seven scheduled races, including four Cup races, between May 17-27 taking place at Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Race dates beyond May 27 were not announced, but Gossage said it’s unlikely NASCAR comes to TMS for its June 5-7 race weekend. Instead, Gossage said, NASCAR seems focused on limiting travel and running races within closer proximity of most teams’ headquarters in the Charlotte area.

“As I listen in on these calls, my gut and my hunch is that we’re going to wind up being later in the year, probably not that first weekend of June,” Gossage said. “But I have been assured they’re going to be running here on two different weekends.”

Burleson ISD to host virtual graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2020 seniors

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Burleson school district announced on Thursday that it will celebrate the Class of 2020 with virtual graduation ceremonies to be held on the regularly scheduled graduation dates in May.

BISD, which will also have a senior parade, still plans to hold in-person graduation ceremonies over the summer.

“Seniors, this is not how you were supposed to end your senior year and your career in BISD,” said BISD Superintendent Bret Jimerson said in a press release. “Our goal is to provide you with something memorable, and we’re doing all we can to safely gather for an in-person graduation ceremony in July or August — pending health and safety requirements in place at that time.”

Johnson County up to 82 confirmed coronavirus cases, 37 active patients

Johnson County has confirmed 82 coronavirus cases, including 45 patient recoveries and four deaths.

Of the 37 active COVID-19 cases, 15 are in rural parts of Johnson County, 13 are in Burleson, and three each are in Alvarado and Mansfield. There are also single active cases in Cleburne, Joshua and Venus.

The four deaths include a resident of Alvarado, one from Burleson and two in rural Johnson County. One of the four deaths was a county resident who died in California after contracting the virus on a cruise ship in March.

Eats Beat: Bluebonnet Cafe is open. The biscuits are ready. But will customers come back?

The Bluebonnet Cafe started 25 years ago, and this weekend, Carlos and Judy Quiroz are starting all over again.

The Haltom City plate-lunch cafe, known for fluffy breakfast biscuits and juicy lunchtime pot roast, reopened for to-go orders Thursday after a month off.

Judy Quiroz doesn’t know how many customers will show up.

This last month has been very stressful on us,” she said.

“To spend half your life building a brand and a legacy and have to worry about losing it all to this pandemic is an indescribable pain.”

There’s a bumpy ride ahead for this little landing-strip cafe north of Fort Worth

The popular and quirky Beacon Cafe is now behind a security gate and may have to close because its private airport neighbors are limiting access to Hicks Field, owner Christie Bingham said Thursday.

As of Friday, according to Bingham, someone from Beacon Cafe will have to work the gate and admit customers for breakfast or lunch at the 9-year-old cafe at 171 Aviator Drive overlooking airplanes landing at the airfield north of Saginaw.

“I’d like to stay, because it’s a great community,” Bingham said, “but a closed gate will turn people away.”

She opened Beacon Cafe 287 last year at 12721 Business U.S. 287 North near the Avondale community, about 2 miles north.

“But the airport location is by far the best location,” she said.

Some small schools are cutting athletic programs, but that’s a last resort for UTA

Every college, whether it’s a Power Five program or a smaller school, is tightening its athletic budgets these days.

The coronavirus pandemic has created an uncertain financial future for athletic departments across the country. We’ve seen a number of colleges eliminate non-revenue programs such as St. Edward’s University in Austin cutting six programs.

For most of the DFW-based colleges, though, eliminating programs remains a last resort option.

“That’s too far down the line,” UT Arlington athletic director Jim Baker said. “Right now, our two biggest things at the university is they haven’t furloughed full-time employees yet and the goal is to keep all full-time people employed. As far as our department, we’re focused on taking care of student-athlete needs and their welfare.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.