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.

Fort Worth-area landlord jailed after forcing out woman who faced coronavirus pay cut

In late February, Susan Gilbert moved to a tidy suburban neighborhood in Haltom City with her two grandchildren, Gavin and Ryleigh. The house — just up the street from the famed Clown Burger — is close to where she works and is in a school district where Gavin, an eighth-grader, has thrived, becoming part of the talented and gifted program.

But within weeks of moving in, her wages thrown into disarray by the coronavirus, Gilbert ended up $300 short of her $1,200 rent for April. Despite a statewide moratorium on evictions, she was forced to leave her home after her landlord shut off and locked the water and gas services, according to court records. And that was only the beginning. A two-week saga ensued, ending with the landlord in jail for not following a judge’s orders.

Renters in Dallas-Fort Worth and nationwide have found themselves in similar situations, as landlords, unable to use the court system because of eviction moratoriums, attempt to kick out tenants through measures that violate property laws. These de facto evictions — known as self-help evictions — involve actions designed to pressure a tenant to leave, including utility cutoffs, switched locks and door removals. In the Valley, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid recently helped a mobile home renter who had been planning to move only to find they had been locked out. Jeannie Nelson, executive director of the Austin Tenants Council, heard this week from a man whose utilities had been cut by a landlord. When he got them turned back on by the utility companies, the landlord removed his refrigerator and stove, Nelson said.

Self-help evictions are rare, but the economic damage inflicted by the coronavirus appears to have escalated the threat. Stuart Campbell, a Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas attorney who represents Gilbert, said he’s had three clients dealing with self-help evictions the last couple weeks; he had two self-help eviction cases in the previous two and a half years. In Atlanta, a housing attorney who typically sees two to three self-help evictions a month is now getting three to four a week. Attorneys general in Rhode Island and Massachusetts have instructed law enforcement officials to be on the lookout for self-help evictions. “This is about keeping people safe,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, referring to renters.

Hair stylists excited but anxious as Texas salons reopen with coronavirus precautions

Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement this week that salons could reopen caught Arlington stylist Kaye Wade by surprise and now she’s stuck in “a Catch 22” — reopen and risk exposing herself and her family to the novel coronavirus or stay closed and struggle to put food on the table.

Wade is ready to get back to work, but she won’t start cutting hair this weekend as Abbott has allowed. She needs at least a week to clean her station, Lady Hairroin Glam Boutique, at Sola Salon Studios and rebuild her clientele, she said.

The governor had said the state would wait two weeks to assess the spread of the novel coronavirus before moving to the second phase of his reopening plan. Instead on Tuesday the governor allowed barbershops and hair, nail, tanning and cosmetology salons to reopen Friday — a week earlier than originally planned. Gyms may open next week.

Wade said she feels like she has little choice about whether to open. She provides for a 10-year-old son, but hasn’t worked since March 22. Her request for unemployment was just processed earlier this month, but a federal relief loan she requested in April has yet to come through.

The governor’s announcement has left Wade scrambling to call former clients and wondering what she’ll do with her son. In the past, if she couldn’t find day care, he would just go to work with her. But coronavirus guidelines say only the stylist and client can be in the studio at one time.

“I would love to go back to work and make my full salary, absolutely. I lived very comfortably,” she said. “But now it’s like, am I compromising my health and my family’s health?”

Dallas salon owner who reopened amid coronavirus is released from jail after ruling

The Texas Supreme Court ordered the release of a Dallas salon owner Thursday who was jailed after she defied orders and reopened her business in the face of coronavirus restrictions.

The owner, Shelley Luther, was released from the Dallas County Jail hours after Thursday’s ruling. She was met with cheers and chants of “Shelley’s free,” according to video from NBC 5.

“I’m a little overwhelmed,” Luther said. “I just want to thank all of you who I just barely met, and now you’re all my friends. You mean so much to me, this would have been nothing without you.”

Earlier in the day, Gov. Greg Abbott modified his executive orders to remove confinement as a consequence for violating them.

Luther, the owner of Salon à la Mode in Dallas, had gained national attention after being sentenced to a week in jail Tuesday for refusing orders to keep her business closed in the face of coronavirus-related restrictions.

“Throwing Texans in jail who have had their businesses shut down through no fault of their own is nonsensical, and I will not allow it to happen,” Abbott said in a statement Thursday. “That is why I am modifying my executive orders to ensure confinement is not a punishment for violating an order.”

Fort Worth turns to private sector to help rescue economy from the coronavirus

Mayor Betsy Price hopes the private sector can restore the city’s economy and position Fort Worth as a national leader when the coronavirus pandemic eventually passes, she said Thursday in announcing a task force aimed at financial recovery.

Details about Fort Worth Now were vague, but Price has tapped two big names from the Metroplex’s business world: Elaine Agather, chairwoman of JP Morgan Chase’s Dallas region and John Goff, the real estate investor, as co-leaders of the task force alongside her.

An advisory committee has not been established, but Price said the group will first assess what Fort Worth companies need to survive as the novel coronavirus recession takes hold and later help market Fort Worth as a home for innovation.

“We believe Fort Worth is uniquely positioned to recruit, attract and grow new business in this post-COVID landscape,” Price said. “We are poised to be a leader in mobility, innovation, pharmaceuticals, medical innovation, and many, many other industries that will be crucial to the recovery of our economy.”

Price said the committee will be small enough to not bog itself down, but will also represent all of the city’s industries including logistics, aviation, medical research, finance as well as small business. Without much detail, Price said the group will also be diverse in race and experience.

Goff has pledged $100,000 to the task force with expectations other donors will match that. The hope, Goff said, is that the task force will be entirely privately funded.

Tarrant County nears 3,000 coronavirus cases after reporting second-most in single day

Tarrant County reported its second highest single-day total of new coronavirus cases Thursday and is closing in on 3,000 total.

The county confirmed 143 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths on Thursday.

Both deceased men were Fort Worth residents, including one in his 50s and one his 60s. One of the two men had an underlying health condition.

The county has confirmed 2,956 pandemic cases, including 90 deaths and 682 recoveries so far. The single-day high for new cases was 146 on April 23.

There are currently 238 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the county, including 79 in intensive care.

Fort Worth residents make up 1,342 of the total cases and 56 of the total deaths.

Dallas County surpasses 5,000 coronavirus cases after 5th day of record totals

Dallas County eclipsed more than 5,000 total coronavirus cases after reporting over 200 new cases Thursday for the fifth consecutive day, and two more deaths.

The county confirmed 251 COVID-19 cases Thursday, the second-highest single-day total of the pandemic. The two deaths reported were a Dallas man in his 60s and a Grand Prairie man in his 90s.

There have been 5,120 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 125 deaths so far in Dallas County. The county has not reported how many people have recovered.

Of the 125 deaths, more than a third have been residents of long-term care facilities.

The county has reported at least 181 new cases each day in May, including at least 234 cases each of the past five days. There have been 1,221 new cases over the past five days.

“Please keep making good decisions, focusing on not what you can do, but what local health authorities are advising that you should do,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a news release. “Increasingly, it’s up to all of us to take personal responsibility and #FlattenTheCurve and #StayHomeSaveLives.”

About 21 percent of the infected people have been hospitalized over the course of the pandemic, according to the county’s data.

Collin, Denton counties report first coronavirus deaths in a week

Collin and Denton Counties reported more coronavirus deaths Thursday for the first time in a week.

Collin County confirmed two more COVID-19 deaths, including a 75-year-old Plano man who died at an area hospital and an 86-year-old McKinney woman who died at local assisted living facility.

Both patients had underlying health conditions. The woman is the 12th resident of the Oxford Grand Assisted Living and Memory Care to die from the coronavirus.

Denton County confirmed the death of a Little Elm man in his 70s.

Collin County has confirmed 857 COVID-19 cases, including 24 deaths and 569 recoveries. There are currently 22 pandemic patients hospitalized.

Of the 24 COVID-19 deaths in Collin, 21 have been older than 65.

Denton County reported 26 new COVID-19 cases for a total of 872, including 23 deaths and 421 recoveries.

“As we begin reopening business across the state, it is important to follow safety guidelines of social distancing and the wearing of face coverings when in the company of others outside your household,” Denton County Judge Andy Eads said in a release.

Assaults up, burglaries down as coronavirus keeps Fort Worth families home, data shows

When coronavirus came to Texas, it forced us to stay inside. Bars closed and restaurants emptied. Our cars sat at the end of driveways and on the sides of streets for days on end. We stayed in our homes, some of us with family, others alone, but the lights were left on and the doors kept locked.

Coronavirus affected the way we communicate with our friends and family, how we work and play — and it also affected crime rates, for good and bad.

Fort Worth’s stay-at-home order went into place on March 24.

Police were called to more aggravated assault cases than in previous years.

“The economic stress in some families can cause a huge impact in personal relations, some people lost their job and this puts a lot of pressure in some households,” officer Daniel Segura said.

But when people are home, Segura said, they’re less likely to be the victims of a burglary.

“Burglars know that there is a high possibility that someone will be home, that is a huge deterrent for committing burglaries,” he said. “This also includes all the neighbors looking out for each other since a lot of family members are home at one point during the day.”