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.

TCU’s COVID-19 cases more than quadrupled in a week. Current outbreak is over 250.

On Friday and Saturday nights at TCU, Diandria Beals, a 21-year-old senior, has seen the crowds of students walking toward the distant hum of house parties, not wearing masks or social distancing.

The attitude on campus, to her, has often felt as it did before the coronavirus pandemic changed life in America and in Texas, she told the Star-Telegram Wednesday morning. That’s part of why she believes her small private university has recently seen dramatic growth in cases.

There were 257 active coronavirus cases at TCU as of Wednesday — almost all students, except for two employees — and there have been a total of 529 cases since March, according to the university’s online COVID-19 portal that’s updated daily.

Per the college’s numbers, active cases at TCU have risen dramatically over just the past week, from 55 cases on Aug. 20, to 177 cases on Tuesday, to Wednesday’s highest total yet of 257 cases. No students are currently hospitalized.

Members of two sororities with positive cases were ordered on Tuesday to quarantine for two weeks, according to the student media publication TCU 360.

Though she’s not involved with Greek life, Beals, a McKinney native, said a friend of hers who’s in a fraternity told her the chapter leaders instructed them to get tested off-campus so the college’s numbers don’t go up. The full count of cases, she believes, could be even higher than reported.

“The big thing is you don’t know who has it and who doesn’t, because some students aren’t saying if they’re positive or not,” said Beals, who has been living on campus. “I would really like to see (TCU) have some sort of repercussions for students who aren’t wearing their masks on campus or are caught out partying and stuff. Because it doesn’t really seem like anything is happening.”

Another restaurant is closing in Fort Worth, and this was a sweet one

McKinley’s Bakery & Cafe, one of the city’s leading bakeries but locked in an endless struggle in University Park Village, will close Sept. 5 and may reopen elsewhere later, according to a Facebook post Wednesday.

McKinley’s, known for cakes and cookies and open nearly 20 years after starting as a location of Dallas’ popular Celebrity Cafe & Bakery, was busy at weekday lunch, but breakfast and weekend business didn’t sustain the expensive space at 1616 S. University Drive.

Owner Stacey Rumfelt wrote on Facebook that “ ... operating a small restaurant with a large dining room in a high rent retail area does not seem to be the best business strategy for us in the current environment.”

McKinley’s also warned regulars that rushing to McKinley’s “will not be fun [or safe!] for you or for us. If McKinley’s has not been a part of your summer pandemic routine then maybe now is not the time to start popping in. Or if you do, please enter with an abundance of patience and remember to social distance.”

Rumfelt wrote that she has always dreamed of finding a “forever home” for the bakery. She moved McKinley’s from a back corner to a prominent space, and successfully fought off competition nearby from a short-lived Bread Winners Cafe & Bakery.

Breakfast and lunch cafes have been among those hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with workers not going to the office and curbside takeout emphasized over standing in lines or eating in crowded dining rooms.

Fort Worth-area bar owners feel strain of COVID closure

Sonia Fennel, a bar manager in Arlington, has lived in the same house in Fort Worth for the last 22 years. She has countless memories there — it’s the house her kids grew up in.

But when bars closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, her income was shattered and now, Fennel said, she has to put her house up for sale.

Fennel manages G Willickers Pub in Arlington, and the decision to leave her home has left her in tears. During the approximately five months that Texas bars have been shut down or operating at limited capacity, Fennel estimates G Willickers has left about $83,000 in income on the table while still having to pay bills.

“We just need our bars open,” she said. “It’s a really scary time.”

Gov. Greg Abbott shut down bars again on June 26, after they briefly had been allowed to reopen at limited capacity in May, in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus in Texas. Ever since, Fennel and other bar owners across the state say they’ve had to exhaust their finances to keep afloat long enough in hopes they won’t have to close down for good.

Abbott’s order came when coronavirus deaths, cases and hospitalizations all continued to rise. In recent weeks, growth in cases has slowed in the state, though health experts warn it could spike again around the start of school and the Labor Day holiday.

“At this time, it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars,” Abbott said in a statement on June 26.

Since the order went into effect, about 10,000 inspections have been conducted and 80 liquor licenses suspended, said Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission spokesman Chris Porter, in an email. Each of those suspensions was the result of an inspection and investigation, using either open or undercover agents.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations remain low in Tarrant County; 5 more deaths reported

Tarrant County reported 199 new coronavirus cases and five deaths on Wednesday.

The latest deaths include an Arlington man and woman in their 50s, a Fort Worth man in his 60s, a Watauga woman in her 70s, and a Bedford woman in her 90s. All had underlying health conditions, according to officials.

Tarrant County has reported a total of 40,530 COVID-19 cases, including 524 deaths and an estimated 34,173 recoveries.

Wednesday’s 199 new cases are the third-fewest daily cases reported in August. Confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations are at 6% of all available beds in the county as of Tuesday, the lowest since June 25.

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.

Steve Wilson swilson@star-telegram.com

Dallas County reports fewest new COVID-19 cases in August; Texas’ data issues persist

Dallas County reported 578 coronavirus cases and nine deaths on Wednesday.

Of Wednesday’s COVID-19 cases, 424 are unreported cases from earlier in the pandemic, including 271 in May, 116 in April, 31 in June, and six in March. There was a backlog in Texas’ Department of State Health Services data reporting system that left thousands of cases unreported. The state has been attempting to add those cases to the official totals for the past two weeks.

The 154 new coronavirus cases reported Wednesday represent the fewest daily cases reported by the county in August.

The latest deaths include two men in their 40s, a woman in her 50s, two men and two women in their 60s, and women in their 70s and 80s. One of the men in his 40s, from Wilmer, had no underlying health conditions. The deaths include two residents each of Dallas and Lancaster, and one each in Irving, Farmers Branch, Mesquite, Richardson, and Wilmer.

Dallas County has confirmed a total of 69,881 COVID-19 cases, including 890 deaths. The county does not report recoveries.

How has the pandemic affected you? Grapevine middle school student, 11, wants to know

The coronavirus pandemic has affected folks in a variety of ways as many shelter in place to remain safe and healthy.

Caroline Gonzalez, 11, wants to know how it has affected others. The incoming sixth-grader at Grapevine Middle School — who is in the STEM and Gifted and Talented programs — is gathering letters from people describing how they’re spending their lockdown.

She said she thought of the letters after the group SAGE (Supporting and Advocating for Gifted Education), along with the GT program at her school, asked students to come up with ideas on how to improve the lives of Grapevine citizens.

“Some of the students collected food and made masks, but my idea was a little different. I chose to find out about the emotions our town is feeling through letters,” she said.

“People have been excited for the opportunity to express their feelings and opinions.”

So far the response has been positive, she said. The guide for letters include how people are feeling in general, along with their personal outlook, family and job situations.