Coronavirus live updates July 31: Here’s what to know in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
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 school officials move start date. Classes will be online-only for 4 weeks.
Fort Worth schools will remain closed until Sept. 8, the school board decided Thursday after more than five hours of deliberation and public comment.
Fort Worth school officials had previously released a reopening plan where classes would have started Aug. 17 and families could choose either online or in-person instruction for their children. Now, the first day will be Sept. 8, a day after Labor Day, and classes will be online-only for four weeks. The goal is for families then to have the option to continue virtual learning or switch to in-person classes.
The motion passed 8-1 with board member CJ Evans of District 5 voting against it.
“The board’s position was that health and safety were the number one priority for our students, faculty and staff,” Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Kent P. Scribner said at a press conference after the board meeting.
Schools will still open for students with special needs, as their needs can only be met with in-person instruction, he said.
The Fort Worth ISD Board of Education held Thursday’s emergency meeting following Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s guidance on Tuesday that it was up to school officials, not public health authorities, to decide how and when to start classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Arlington school district reaffirms decision to start the school year exclusively online
The Arlington school district still plans to start its school year Aug. 17 online after Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion that county health officials cannot issue blanket closures of schools.
Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos said Wednesday evening that returning to school online-only is the safest way to get children back into classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The online-only education will last at least the first four weeks of school, with the exception of some special education programs.
As the district moves into those four weeks, it will examine waivers and opportunities to extend the period.
Tracie Brown, assistant superintendent for school leadership, said students in special education will have the option of in-person education.
“These are students who require intensive, consistent instruction and they need that in a structured learning sequence,” she said.
Board president Kecia Mays said the online learning will be more rigorous than last spring and that the district will continue to focus on health and the monitoring of data and recommendations by local health officials.
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.
After clarifying data error on COVID-19 deaths, Texas reports 322 deaths on Thursday
Texas health officials reported 322 coronavirus deaths on Thursday, seemingly a single-day record, but the state’s revised data collection method has included some reporting errors.
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced it discovered an error in its total for COVID-19 deaths this week. Officials attributed an “automation error” for an erroneous 225 deaths that were included, despite COVID-19 not being listed as the direct cause of death on the death certificate, the agency said.
Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for DSHS, said that most of the erroneous 225 deaths had been included in Monday’s revised death count. That affected the totals for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
For example, on Monday when the agency announced the change, it reported a cumulative 5,713 COVID-19 deaths. On Thursday, it listed the corrected total for that day as 5,489 — 224 fewer than its previous number.
A manual quality check revealed the error late Wednesday, officials reported.
With the fix, DSHS reported 322 new fatalities Thursday, bringing the cumulative total to 6,274 deaths.
The state also reported 8,800 new coronavirus cases, down 242 from Wednesday.
Tarrant County reports 8 more COVID deaths, including two Fort Worth men in their 40s
Tarrant County reported 672 new coronavirus cases and eight more deaths on Thursday.
The latest COVID-19 deaths include six Fort Worth residents, one White Settlement man in his 80s and an Arlington woman in her 90s. All eight had underlying health conditions.
The Fort Worth deaths included two men in their 40s, a man and a woman in their 70s, and two men in their 80s.
Tarrant County has confirmed 27,823 COVID-19 cases, including 363 deaths and at least 13,648 recoveries.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the county have leveled off slightly from a pandemic-high recorded on July 23 when 20% of occupied beds included coronavirus patients and 15% of all hospital beds were used by coronavirus patients. As of Wednesday, those rates had dropped to 17% and 12%.
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.
Dallas Co. passes 49,000 COVID cases; judge urges helping restaurants survive pandemic
Dallas County reported 537 new coronavirus cases and six deaths on Thursday.
The latest COVID-19 deaths included five Dallas residents and a Richardson woman in her 60s who was a resident of a long-term care facility. The Dallas residents were men in their 50s and 70s, a woman in her 70s and two women in their 90s who were residents of long-term care facilities.
Dallas County has confirmed 49,269 COVID-19 cases, including 664 deaths. Thursday’s new cases are the fewest in the past four days. The six deaths are a drastic drop from Wednesday’s record 36 deaths and the fewest reported since Monday.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins praised residents for helping to slow the spread of new coronavirus cases by wearing face coverings and practicing social distancing. He urged them to continue doing so “to get the numbers down so less people become infected, our economy gets stronger, and our kids can return to school.”
He also urged residents to patronize restaurants using takeout and delivery during the pandemic.
“I’d like to remind everyone that while doctors do not recommend in-person dining, I am requesting that those who are able to, order take-out and delivery from your favorite neighborhood restaurants,” Jenkins said. “They and their employees need your help. If we want our restaurants to survive the #COVID19 economic downturn, then we need to frequent them for take-out and delivery.”
Traveling 200 mph in a pandemic. Which would be safer: High-speed rail or Hyperloop?
Hyperloop and high-speed rail technology, which are both being pursued in North Texas, could be permanently changed by the COVID pandemic.
If you can imagine a time years from now when either Hyperloop or high-speed rail could be running in the Dallas-Fort Worth region — whipping riders across the land at 200 mph or more — which form of futuristic transportation would be better for social distancing?
The North Central Texas Council of Governments is looking into both technologies for proposed passenger services connecting Dallas to Houston, and Dallas to Arlington, Fort Worth and beyond. Both systems, if approved by federal and state regulators, would take years to build and operate — and hopefully by then the current COVID pandemic will be a distant memory.
“You don’t build a Hyperloop or high-speed rail for 10, 20 or 30 years. You’re building it for 50 to 100 years, and over that time frame our position is the science of (disease) prevention will supersede the science of the pandemic,” said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
But it’s not a stretch to think that the way mass transportation systems are designed in the future could be permanently changed based on what we are learning today about socially distancing in public spaces such as train cars and stations. At airports, for example, those Plexiglass barriers recently installed at ticket counters across the world likely will remain years after the COVID-19 virus is defeated.
And if the pandemic has lasting effects on mass transit, Hyperloop supporters say their technology is superior to high-speed rail.
A California startup with a coronavirus solution grows Fort Worth’s tech hub hopes
An emerging biotech company developing a hand sanitizer to combat coronavirus hopes to make Fort Worth the proving ground for its potentially revolutionary technology.
Cage Bio’s relocation from California to startup lab space at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth also furthers the likelihood that Cowtown can become a tech hub, say proponents of the city’s tech sector. The burgeoning environment for research and development helped attract Cage Bio, said CEO Nitin Joshi, who said he sees Fort Worth as the perfect place to scale up the fledgling company and find partners.
“The network of investors has been growing pretty rapidly,” he said of Fort Worth. “And it’s becoming fairly easy to hire top-notch people, so we thought it would be a great place for us to expand.”
Cage Bio develops topical therapeutic products for dermatology, inflammation and immunology. While the company hopes to launch products to treat rosacea, hair loss, vitiligo, and eczema, Joshi said it’s most excited about a hand sanitizer announced this week.
Using ionic liquid, which is basically salt that remains liquid at room temperature, Cage Bio has developed a sanitizer that kills 99.9% of human coronaviruses. Unlike alcohol-based sanitizers, which evaporate rapidly and stop protecting the skin in a matter of minutes, Joshi said IonLast continues to kill viruses for up to four hours. The solution was also effective against the bacteria that causes staph infections.
“We’re really excited to bring this innovation,” Joshi said. “You know, there’s been no innovation in this space for decades.”
Texas Rep. Kay Granger is in quarantine after colleague tested positive for COVID
U.S. Rep. Kay Granger is self-quarantining after sitting next to a fellow member of Congress who has tested positive for coronavirus.
This comes after she recently sat next to U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Tyler Republican often seen walking around the U.S. Capitol without a mask, who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Granger, R-Fort Worth, sat next to him on an airplane flight leaving Texas on Sunday night.
“At the direction of the attending physician, and out of an abundance of caution, she is self-quarantining,” Michelle Koepp, her spokeswoman, said in a one paragraph written statement.
Wednesday was the first day of quarantine for Granger, 77, who has served in the Texas House since 1997 and is seeking re-election in November. She is in Washington, D.C.
Granger represents the 12th Congressional District, which includes the western part of Tarrant County, all of Parker County and the eastern part of Wise County.
Death penalty trial for Fort Worth home invasion murder suspect postponed until August
A capital murder trial originally scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed a second time and is now set for Aug. 10.
Testimony in the James Earnest Floyd capital murder trial was postponed a day earlier this week due to technicalities and was scheduled to begin on Thursday.
Floyd is charged in the death of John Porter, a 69-year-old Fort Worth man who police say was beaten with a metal table and then shot in the head during a home-invasion-style robbery on March 28, 2017.
Police say Floyd, 53, of Terrell, also shot Porter’s wife, wounding her in the stomach and leaving her to die in her home, but not before getting the couple’s bank card and PIN number, then leaving in the couple’s 2008 Kia Sorento SUV. John Porter’s wife, Diane Porter, survived the shooting and later identified Floyd.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and to allow for social distancing, officials planned to allow only seven spectators inside the courtroom during the trial. This will be the first capital murder trial held in Tarrant County since the pandemic suspended in-person trials in March.
Floyd is expected to act as his own attorney and present his defense at the trial. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
How the Fort Worth area’s new high school coaches navigated the off-season amid COVID
New coaches always have to take time to get used to their new school.
The off-season is the time for them to meet their players and gain trust and build chemistry before the regular season.
This year is by far the toughest transition as new coaches combat the coronavirus pandemic.
With schools closed since March 16, it meant more phone calls, text messages and online meetings. It also meant not meeting players in person for at least three months.
Jessica Tyler was hired as the volleyball coach at Burleson Centennial in April. She had to wait to see her players in person when summer workouts started in June.
“COVID has put a damper on getting to know and see the kids on the court as a new coach,” Tyler said. “In the spring, I tried to get to know them through virtual meetings. But as we all know nothing takes the place of face-to-face meetings.”