Coronavirus live updates Aug. 10: 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, Tarrant County open free coronavirus testing at 4 new sites this week
Fort Worth and Tarrant County have added four coronavirus testing sites that will open this week.
Tests will be available at these locations, starting on the following dates:
• Tuesday, Aug. 11, at FWISD Scarborough–Handley Field parking lot, 6201 Craig St., Fort Worth
• Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Tarrant County College – Northwest Campus, 4801 Marine Creek Parkway, Fort Worth
• Thursday, Aug. 13, at Beth Eden Missionary Baptist Church, 3208 Wilbarger St., Fort Worth
• Friday, Aug. 14, at Christ Church Fort Worth Assembly of God, 5301 Altamesa Blvd., Fort Worth
Free tests will be available from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Tests at all sites are available by online appointment at https://covidtesting.tarrantcounty.com. Residents who do not have access to a computer may call 817-248-6299 to schedule an appointment.
Two other testing sites are open and staffed by the city’s emergency response volunteers. The sites are at J.P. Elder Middle School, 709 N.W. 21st St., from 8 a.m. to noon, and Dickies Arena’s Chevrolet Parking Garage, 3464 Trail Drive, from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Tarrant County reports 1 new coronavirus death, 491 new cases Sunday
Tarrant County reported one new death and 491 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, bringing totals to 422 deaths and 33,860 infections since the pandemic began.
The deceased was a man in his 60s from Fort Worth, with underlying health conditions.
The county reported 22,083 recoveries, though hospitals and patients are not required to report recoveries, according to the county website tracking COVID-19 statistics. Deaths and recoveries are counted in the total number of confirmed cases.
The highest number of confirmed cases have been in the two largest cities, Fort Worth and Arlington, with 15,271 and 6,114, respectively. Fort Worth has reported 217 deaths and Arlington 64.
The county has 463 hospital beds occupied by coronavirus patients. The county reports 1,553 beds available as of Sunday.
The county has 513 available ventilators, with 273 being used in some capacity.
Dallas County reports 843 new coronavirus cases, 4 additional deaths
Dallas County reported 843 additional cases of the coronavirus and four additional COVID-19 deaths on Sunday.
That brought the total case count for the county to 54,674, including 755 confirmed deaths, according to the Dallas health department.
The 4 deaths reported Sunday include:
- A man in his 50s from Balch Springs who had been critically ill in a hospital and did not have any underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60s from Irving who had been critically ill in a hospital and who had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 60s from Dallas who had been critically ill in a hospital and did not have any underlying high risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 70s from Grand Prairie who had been critically ill in a hospital and who had underlying high risk health conditions.
Tarrant Nursing facilities case counts
Here are the self-reported COVID-19 case counts in residents and staff at licensed Tarrant County nursing facilities. You can search by city, nursing facility name, and also sort by columns.
Bill could give live music venues like Billy Bob’s Texas a ‘lifeline’ amid COVID
Casey Donahew can’t wait to get back on the stage and sing for crowds.
“Music does heal,” the country music singer said. “It happens every day.”
Donahew on Friday showed up at Billy Bob’s Texas Friday to talk about the proposed Save Our Stages Act, a bipartisan bill U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, is trying to pass through Congress.
The measure, also filed by Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, would funnel financial help to independent music venues that have been shut down by officials to slow the spread of coroanvirus. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate.
“Independent live music venues have been hardest hit,” Williams said during a press conference Friday, noting they were the “first to close, last to open.”
Williams stressed that this industry has been hit. But the venues still have to pay bills such as rent or mortgages, utilities, taxes and more.
And live events such as concerts may not be a possibility at many places for months, possibly until a vaccine is ready.
Williams said a number of venues in his district, which stretches from the edges of Tarrant County to Austin, have been “devastated by this pandemic.”
This bill, he said, is designed to “give them a lifeline.”
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw schools will be online only until Sept. 8 after community backlash
After teachers and parents spent over four hours asking school district officials to delay in-person learning because of COVID-19 concerns, board members voted early 6-1 early Friday morning to start classes with virtual instruction.
Students will start classes online on Aug. 20 and parents will have the choice of online or in-person instruction starting Sept. 8.
The push to delay in-person learning came about when teachers spoke out, saying there were health and safety concerns because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
A petition with more than 1,000 signatures on change.org spelled out concerns that the school district was not relying on the opinion of health officials to decide when to start classes.
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.
Big 12 preparing for Pac 12 to be first P5 to cancel football
Multiple Big 12 athletic directors say they are preparing for the Pac 12 to cancel its fall sports seasons sometime this week.
The expectation is medical experts will advise the conference not to play. If the league follows that advice, the Pac 12 will be the first Power 5 league to cancel the football season.
According to a report by ESPN, the presidents of the schools in the Big Ten would vote to postpone the season and move it to the spring. What appeared unfathomable in March now feels inevitable in August: There will be no major college football in the fall of 2020.
The Mid American Conference canceled its football season earlier over the weekend. All of NCAA Division III and II have canceled their fall championships.
There is frustration among college athletic officials that some of these leagues are canceling prematurely, that more of an effort should be made to see this through.
The potential cancellation by the Pac 12, or Big Ten, doesn’t mean the Big 12, ACC, SEC, Mountain West, American Athletic Conference, etc., will immediately stop, but it is unlikely only a fraction of college football’s power teams would move forward alone.
Big 12’s brass to meet this week on upcoming football season. Can it be saved?
Multiple reports surfaced Sunday that college football is headed toward a postponement to the spring, or possibly a complete cancellation of the 2020 season, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Big 12 board of directors is expected to meet with its medical experts this week to discuss the upcoming season, according to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting. No decision has been made yet on the season.
A Big 12 spokesperson said the decision whether to cancel or postpone the season would be made at the board level by university presidents and chancellors.
Signs, though, are less than promising that college football will be played this fall.
ESPN cited sources that said postponing or canceling the season is “inevitable.” Sports Illustrated quoted an industry source saying “in the next 72 hours college football is going to come to a complete stop.” Yahoo Sports reported that the Big Ten is meeting Sunday night to discuss the future of the season and there was momentum at the presidential level to cancel fall sports.
Texas high school athletes who test for COVID need doctor’s OK for return, UIL says
High school athletes who test positive for COVID-19 will need to be cleared by their physician before they can return, the UILeague Medical Advisory Committee announced during a Friday morning conference call.
High school sports have started to return in Class 4A and below. The volleyball for 4A-1A begins on Monday while cross country and team tennis starts Aug. 17. Football teams, which started with helmets only, can practice in full pads during the week of Aug. 10, hold its only scrimmage during the week of Aug. 17 and play its first game Aug. 27-29.
Class 6A and 5A can start with helmets-only practices on Sept. 7.
Dr. Albert Hergenroeder, a sports medicine specialist in Houston who sits on the Medical Advisory Committee, suggested students coronavirus symptoms should see their physician for COVID-19 testing.
“People that are going to a drive-thru and paying for COVID-19 testing are not doing what the CDC is recommending. They need to see their physician,” Hergenroeder said. “A lot of questions need to be referred back to the CDC. At some point, people have to trust what the CDC is saying despite its criticisms. The CDC still has the last word. There are a lot of good scientists at the CDC.”