Coronavirus live updates July 16: Here’s what to know in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
Texas reports records of new coronavirus cases, deaths
As Texas continues to struggle to contain COVID-19, the state reported on Wednesday a record 10,791 new coronavirus cases and a record 110 new deaths.
Texas has reported more than 280,000 cases and 3,400 deaths, according to state data. It’s estimated that more than 140,000 people have recovered. The state’s seven-day positivity rate for testing is at 16.81%.
Wednesday was the second day in a row that the state reported a record number of new cases. On Tuesday, it reported 10,745 new cases. Hospitalizations went down to 10,471 after a record 10,569 were reported Tuesday.
On the same day, both Tarrant and Dallas counties recorded worrisome numbers. Tarrant County reported a record 857 new coronavirus cases while Dallas County reported at least 1,000 new cases for the 13th consecutive day. The county also reported eight new deaths.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said this could be one of the deadliest weeks in the county since the pandemic began.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations over Time
Coronavirus daily hospitalization counts in Texas and the larger Trauma Service Areas, beginning April 8, 2020. Data provided by Texas Health and Human Services.
6 dead at Parker County nursing home after COVID outbreak
Six patients have died at a Parker County long-term care facility over the past few days after staff and patients contracted COVID-19, according to a statement from the office of the County Judge Pat Deen.
The cause of the deaths are pending, and three of the patients were in hospice care, according to the statement. Deen did not immediately respond to a request for an interview. The statement did name the facility, or say if it was a nursing home, assisted living facility or skilled nursing facility.
About three weeks ago a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 and a surge team tested all staff and residents, including hospice patients, according to the release. The patients who tested positive are recovering, the statement said. The facility does not believe that COVID-19 forced the three patients into hospice care, according to the statement.
COVID-19 cases over time
Coronavirus daily case counts over time by local counties in the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex. Tap the arrow button to replay the animation. Data provided by Texas Health and Human Services and local counties.
Texas loses health insurance as US jobs are lost in COVID-19
About 3 in 10 Texas adults are without health insurance after record-breaking decreases in coverage across the U.S., according to a study.
An estimated 659,000 Texans lost health insurance due to job losses between February and May amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the study by nonpartisan health care consumer group Families USA says.
About 4.9 million Texas adults under age 65 were uninsured in May, according to the study. That’s 29% of all adults in the state, which is the highest rate in the country, data show.
Texas trailed only California, which saw an estimated 689,000 workers lose insurance.
“These record-breaking increases in the number of uninsured have taken place during the country’s worst public-health crisis in more than a century and the sharpest and deepest economic downturn since World War II,” said Stan Dorn, the director of the National Center for Coverage Innovation and a senior fellow at Families USA.
Nationwide, an estimated 5.4 million workers became uninsured in the four-month period, the study says. The spike in uninsured Americans is higher than any other annual increase ever recorded. It’s nearly 40% higher than the previous record increase of 3.9 million adults who lost health insurance from 2008-2009 during the Great Recession.
Estimated active cases over time
Coronavirus daily active case estimates by local counties in the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex, beginning April 8, 2020. Data provided by Texas Health and Human Services.
Thousands call for online school in Texas until COVID spread slows
Many Texas teachers are worried about heading back to their classrooms next month as the state continues reporting thousands of coronavirus cases every day that is pushing some hospitals to their limits.
But they also are frustrated that they are being called back to school as many administrators in school districts and workers at the Texas Education Agency continue working from home.
An online petition calling for the TEA to “allow school to remain off campus until it is safe to return” drew more than 80,000 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.
“This is not negotiable, people’s lives are at stake,” the petition on change.org stated.
Calling on teachers to return to school in a matter of weeks is not the right choice, some teachers say.
“It’s the least safe option right now, not just for teachers, but for the entire community,” said Jon Ladner, a 34-year-old Denton teacher whose Facebook post about his concerns has been spotlighted by national media. “What we know about how this virus works is a, it’s extremely contagious, and b, you could have it and spread it and not even know you are doing it.”
Yes, students should have the option of learning online or in-person, but teachers should be given the same choice, he said.
And he said it’s ironic that many administrators are working from the safety of their homes while making plans for teachers to return to their classrooms.
“I think it’s perfectly obvious how hypocritical that is,” Ladner, who teaches 11th and 12th grade AP English at Guyer High School in Denton, said of the TEA’s decision.
Especially, he said, as state education officials “making these decisions to require us to step right in front of the virus (did so) over a Zoom conference.”
Texas State Teachers Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday to keep students and school employees safe.
“We demand that the governor issue a statewide order that all school buildings must remain closed and all instruction be provided remotely until the pandemic has clearly begun to subside and it is safe to reopen school buildings under strict safety standards,” Molina said in a statement. “The state and school districts must work with educators to decide when that time is here. In the meantime, school districts must continue to receive full state funding.”
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM.