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.

Tarrant County reports 84 more coronavirus cases, 1 death

As more Tarrant County businesses like gyms prepare to open their doors on Monday as part of Texas’ gradual reopening, health officials on Saturday reported 84 new coronavirus cases and one more death.

The deceased was a woman in her 80s from Fort Worth with underlying health conditions, county officials said.

They also said there have been 318 recoveries at Federal Medical Center Fort Worth, a prison where an outbreak has infected more than 600 inmates. Prison officials said on Friday a 74-year-old man was the eighth inmate to die of the coronavirus.

The numbers from the county differ from those reported by Federal Medical Center Fort Worth, which as of Saturday listed 304 active cases and 331 recoveries, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.

Since the coronavirus outbreak began in Tarrant County, there have been 4,350 coronavirus cases and 121 deaths, according to the county public health department. A total of 1,470 residents have recovered from the coronavirus, the county reported on Saturday, including the 318 recoveries at the federal prison.

The 84 cases reported on Saturday represent an increase from the 55 cases reported on Friday and 57 on Thursday. But earlier in the week there were higher daily totals, with 146 cases on Wednesday and 248 on Tuesday, which included 153 cases at the federal prison.

Across Tarrant County, men have have made up 58 percent of coronavirus cases and 61 percent of deaths, according to data from the county public health department.

Although people 65 or older only make up 17 percent of coronavirus cases, the data shows, they have made up 65 percent of deaths.

As of Saturday, there were 237 confirmed COVID-19-occupied beds in Fort Worth hospitals, according to data from the county public health department. There are 1,947 available beds and 447 available ventilators.

Dallas County reports 214 new cases, 6 more deaths

Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 214 new coronavirus cases and six more deaths Saturday, bringing the total case count in Dallas County to 7,250, including 170 deaths.

The deaths reported Saturday included two residents of Mesquite and one resident each of Dallas, Garland, Grand Prairie and Irving, county officials said in a news release. They were a man in his 40s, a woman in her 50s, a woman in her 70s, two men in their 80s and a woman who was over 100 years old. Two lived in long-term care facilities.

“We closed out our week with a total of 27 deaths, six lower than last week, and the lowest number we’ve had since the week of April 19th,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in the release. “Today’s 214 cases puts us at an average of 233 cases a day, down from 246 from last week. This tracks the medical modeling from early April that we would plateau and begin to go down at this time.

“We have not yet seen the impact of reopening the economy during a sharp increase rather than waiting for a 14-day decline,” Jenkins added. “Those numbers will begin to manifest themselves by the end of the month. Hopefully, things will go well, and whether they do is largely up to you. Avoid crowds and maintain 6 foot distancing, wear cloth face coverings on public transportation and at businesses and practice good hygiene. You can download guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response at www.DallasCountyCOVID.org. It’s everyone’s job to #FlattenTheCurve #StayHomeSaveLives.”

Pandemic claims another retailer: North Texas-based J.C. Penney

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the storied but troubled department store chain J.C. Penney into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth major retailer to meet that fate, the Associated Press reports.

As part of its reorganization, the 118-year-old company said late Friday it will be shuttering some stores. It said the stores will close in phases throughout the Chapter 11 process and details of the first phase will be disclosed in the coming weeks.

Penney is the biggest retailer to file for bankruptcy reorganization since the pandemic and joins luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus, J.Crew and Stage Stores. Plenty of other retailers are expected to follow as business shutdowns across the country have evaporated sales. In fact, U.S. retail sales tumbled by a record 16.4% from March to April.

“The coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for our families, our loved ones, our communities, and our country,” said Penney’s CEO Jill Soltau in a statement. “As a result, the American retail industry has experienced a profoundly different new reality, requiring J.C. Penney to make difficult decisions in running our business to protect the safety of our associates and customers and the future of our company. “

The company based in Plano, Texas, has suffered five straight years of declining sales, which now hover around $11.2 billion

Bud Kennedy: Texas ‘open’ stunts get publicity for armed activists—and put pressure on Gov. Abbott

Let’s spell it out.

The “open” rallies and armed protests on behalf of businesses defying state health orders are also publicity stunts for the do-away-with-gun-laws crowd.

They want attention.

They want to embarrass government leaders.

Most of all, they want to push Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers to do away with licenses, restrictions and all state and local gun laws.

Look, this is not about gun rights, or the right to carry. In Texas, we have that.

This is about the crowd that wants to carry any gun anytime, anywhere.

And they threaten anyone who stands in their way.

You saw the armed demonstrators in Fort Worth on May 1 when the Basement Bar tried to reopen in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Protesters armed with modern semiautomatic rifles lined up across the sidewalk, some displaying white supremacist and extremist militia symbols.

It’s been that way at stunts across Texas.

Time for students to return school instruments? Here’s how to properly clean them

It’s that time of the year when students drop off items owned by their school.

Maybe a uniform or a musical instrument.

But as the coronavirus pandemic keeps schools closed, the return procedure calls for a different approach this year.

But what does one do when social distancing is required? How can students — or their parents —properly clean their musical instruments and get them returned to campus all while ensuring the safety of all involved?

Fortunately, students from the Texas Academy of Math and Sciences have developed a series of videos demonstrating how to properly clean musical instruments.

An interdisciplinary team that includes engineers, researchers, graduate students, musicians, instrument tech specialists and other experts from the University of North Texas and Health Science Center of Fort Worth came up with the idea to keep students and educators safe.

Sports execs react to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s plan to have fans when the games return

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick believes fans should be able to attend games in a limited capacity when sports resume, he wrote in an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News on Friday.

Patrick laid out a number of measures he felt would ensure fans can attend games as safely as possible, but his plan isn’t close to coming to fruition for the first sporting events coming back to Texas.

Texas Motor Speedway is set to host the first major sporting event in the state with IndyCar’s Genesys 300 scheduled to run on June 6. The PGA Tour then comes to town for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club with tournament rounds being played June 11-14.

Both TMS and PGA Tour officials said there are no discussions of implementing any sort of fan attendance such as what Patrick has suggested.

“As things currently stand, we can’t host fans,” said TMS president Eddie Gossage. “We will follow the state’s directions that events like this cannot have people in the stands. We wish we could, but that’s not the direction we’ve been given by the state of Texas.”

The PGA Tour said it’s focused on its first four events, including the Colonial, being held without the general public.

Texas native Chris Buescher tells fans what to expect when NASCAR returns at Darlington

Chris Buescher hasn’t been behind the wheel of his race car since he was at Phoenix Raceway on March 8. Within days, sports leagues around the world ground their schedules to a halt amid the growing coronavirus pandemic.

That was 10 weeks ago.

In recent days, some forms of entertainment have returned, and on Sunday NASCAR looks to resume its season. Prosper native Buescher is eager to get back out on the track, and he’ll have the opportunity to do that in The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. The green flag is scheduled to drop shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Fox — without fans in the stands.

“We’re ready to get back going in some way, shape or form here,” Buescher told the Star-Telegram in a telephone interview.

“It’s not our normal and there are going to be a lot of changes. It’s going to be tough to adapt to some of it, but also it’s being well thought out. It’s nice for us to go back to racing, to get back to live sports, to put a little bit of entertainment on TV.”

Buescher, who is in his first season driving the No. 17 Ford Mustang for Roush Fenway Racing, said he had no hesitation in deciding to get behind the wheel again. And he’s excited to get it started at Darlington, his second-favorite track on the schedule despite not having a top-10 run in four career Cup races there. He hopes to change that this weekend as he starts from the 24th position.

Buescher touched on the race and more during a Q&A session.

MLB’s plan has ample COVID tests. Harper’s plan has big finish at ‘new Texas stadium’

MLB’s plan for returning to action during the coronavirus pandemic includes testing players for COVID-19 and players sitting in the stands instead of the dugout.

Bryce Harper’s plan for the 2020 MLB season includes a College World Series-style postseason at “the new Texas Stadium,” otherwise known at Globe Life Field.

Any takers?

“Maybe I’m crazy,” wrote the Philadelphia Phillies star player. “Just fun to think about and throw around ideas.”

Sure, but MLB must hope that the MLB Players Association accepts its safety protocol and operation manual, some of which was obtained Saturday by The Athletic and ESPN. In it, MLB proposes testing players for COVID-19 twice a week and taking their temperatures multiple times a day.

Most NCAA Power 5 colleges plan to reopen, the first step for football amid pandemic

An abundance of caution comes first for the California State University system, whose students across 23 campus will take the vast majority of their 2020 fall semester classes online.

The University of California schools are expected to follow suit, though they haven’t officially decided to do so amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Two of those UC schools are in the Pac-12 Conference, which is considering playing only conference football games to minimize travel and keep players safe if they even decide to play.

The NCAA isn’t going to set a deadline for sports to resume, president Mark Emmert told ESPN on Wednesday. That, he said, ultimately will be up to local and state governments.

Emmert also addressed the impact closed campuses would have on sports last week during a streamed interview. “If a school doesn’t reopen, then they’re not going to be playing sports. It’s really that simple,” he said.

So, that’s why there’s all the talk of TCU, which is scheduled to open its 2020 season Sept. 5 at California, playing Alabama that day instead at AT&T Stadium. Alabama is scheduled to play USC, a private college, in the Advocare Classic.