Coronavirus live updates Aug. 5: 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 cut its tax rate for four years. Coronavirus brought an end to that.
Fort Worth’s general fund will be out a little more than $22 million this year from declining sales tax related to the recession, kicking off what could be five lean years for city coffers.
Despite a projection of stagnant growth, many homeowners will see no change to their property taxes in 2021.
The sales tax hole is smaller than estimated at the beginning of the pandemic when the forecast projected a loss between $35 million and $40 million for the general fund, the source of the city’s discretionary spending. While that’s good news, City Manager David Cooke said the recession will eat into the growth of the city’s tax base, so departments may have to pull back on some expenses.
Cooke has proposed keeping the city’s tax rate the same in fiscal year 2021, 74.75 cents. The owner of a home valued at $200,000 with a homestead exemption would pay $1,119.60 in city property taxes. For four years the city had reduced the tax rate, totaling more than a 11 cent reduction since 2017.
Those who saw a jump in their home’s appraisal are likely to see taxes go up despite the same tax rate. There is no change to water, sewer and other fees.
Cooke said the city could raise the rate by nearly 2 cents without calling an election, but he didn’t feel that would be proper. Unemployment is between 12 and 15%, he said, and businesses are closing “all the time.”
Fort Worth extends face mask order through August amid coronavirus pandemic
Fort Worth residents will have to wear a mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus through at least the end of the month.
The City Council on Tuesday approved extending the local mandate through Aug. 31.
The order, first passed on June 26, reinforces Gov. Greg Abbott’s July 2 statewide order, which requires face masks and limits outdoor gatherings. Abbott’s order did not have an end date, but Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley last week extended the county’s declaration through the end of August.
Tarrant County reported five coronavirus deaths and 805 new cases on Tuesday.
Fort Worth’s order carries a fine up to $500 for businesses found in violation. They must develop a health policy that requires employees and customers to wear masks as well as post signs advising visitors of the rule.
However, the city has not written a citation for violations.
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.
Abbott stresses Texas school boards are best to set reopenings of classrooms amid COVID
As Texas school districts weigh when and how to start the school year, Gov. Greg Abbott reiterated Tuesday that local school boards are best suited to determine when classrooms reopen, and cautioned that reopenings and the upcoming flu season will increase the need for personal protective equipment.
With the novel coronavirus still spreading, both events will put “an even greater strain” on the demand for personal protective equipment, like face masks and gloves, Abbott said Tuesday from a Texas Division of Emergency Management warehouse during a press conference in San Antonio.
But he stressed that the state has “abundant supplies” to ensure equipment is provided not just to schools, but also to hospitals, nursing homes and testing sites that need PPE to respond to the pandemic.
As of Tuesday, the Texas Division of Emergency Management has distributed over 130 million face masks, 33 million gloves, 7 million gowns and 4 million face shields across the state. Schools have received over 59 million masks, 24,000 thermometers, 565,000 gallons of hand sanitizer and more than 500,000 face shields, Abbott said.
In a statement following Abbott’s press conference, Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina said that 59.4 million face masks would equal roughly 11 masks per student, and that it was only “a drop in the bucket, compared to what will be needed if schools are forced to reopen before it’s safe.”
“That might get students through the first week of school,” Molina said.
Tarrant County sees good news in COVID data, but braces for spike when school starts
Coronavirus data — ranging from lab positivity rates to hospitalizations — is trending downward in Tarrant County, giving public health officials hope that cases of the novel virus will keep dropping.
This news comes at a crucial time, as some schools are preparing to open, said Vinny Taneja, the county’s public health director.
That’s why residents need to vigilantly work to “bend the curve” of COVID cases, he said.
“If we stay home as much as possible and push our data down, and then schools reopen, then we should be able to handle any (school) outbreaks,” Taneja told Tarrant County Commissioners on Tuesday.
He urges people to wear masks, stay home as much as possible, stay six feet apart when possible, avoid large gatherings and wash their hands or use sanitizer.
“I am hopeful,” Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said. “I think the masks are making a difference.”
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.
Tarrant County nears 400 COVID deaths with five more Tuesday, passes 30,000 cases
Tarrant County reported five coronavirus deaths and 805 new cases on Tuesday.
The latest COVID-19 cases include a Mansfield man in his 30s, a Lake Worth man and a Fort Worth woman in their 50s, and a woman in her 60s and man in his 70s from Grand Prairie. All five had underlying health conditions, according to officials.
The 805 new cases are the most since 823 were reported on July 14, according to the county data which tracks cases by the date they were confirmed. Tuesday’s case total could fluctuate as data is revised in the following days.
Tarrant County has confirmed 30,162 cases, including 396 pandemic-related deaths, and an estimated 17,689 recoveries.
Of the total pandemic-related deaths in the county, there have been 208 in Fort Worth, 14 in Mansfield, 11 in Grand Prairie, and five in Lake Worth.
Dallas County’s second-deadliest COVID day pushes count over 700 deaths, 52,000 cases
Dallas County reported 31 coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, its second deadliest day of the pandemic.
The county also reported 641 new COVID-19 cases, up significantly from Monday’s 382 cases but still below the totals for much of July when the county reported 18 consecutive days with more than 1,000 cases.
The most coronavirus deaths reported in a day by the county was 36 on July 29.
“Today’s death total is a somber reminder of the seriousness of COVID-19 and the need for us to continue to wear masks, stay six feet apart, use good hand hygiene, and avoid any trips other than work, procuring essential items and outdoor exercise during this time of rapid spread,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a release and on social media.
Dallas County has confirmed a total of 52,131 COVID-19 cases, including 722 deaths.
Among the latest deaths were 18 Dallas residents, including a man in his 20s, two men in their 30s, a man in his 50s, three men and two women in their 60s, two women in their 70s, one man and three women in their 80s, and three women in their 90s. Five did not have underlying health conditions, including the two Dallas men in their 30s.
Nine of the people who died were residents of long-term care facilities.
The deaths include three residents in Mesquite, two each in Garland, Cedar Hill, and Rowlett, and one each in Cockrell Hill, DeSoto, Grand Prairie and Irving.
The latest deaths include 11 people in their 60s, seven residents in their 80s, four in their 70s, and three in their 90s, two in their 50s, and one in their 40s.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 9:52 AM.