After call with governor, Fort Worth officials confident in coronavirus response
After hearing from state leaders Thursday, Tarrant County’s officials stressed that they’re prepared to contain and test for coronavirus as the number of cases grow.
In a call with Texas mayors, county judges and state lawmakers, Gov. Greg Abbott and the heads of the Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Division of Emergency Management and Texas Education Agency outlined the state’s plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
As of Thursday afternoon, there are at least 34 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Texas, including one in Fort Worth. Eleven of the cases are related to repatriated patients being monitored at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
Everyone who came in contact with an Episcopal priest who tested positive for the disease has been identified, Tarrant County Public Health director Vinny Taneja said Thursday afternoon. Those at highest risk for infection have been told to stay home for two weeks and their condition is being monitored, he said. He would not say how many people had been tested or asked to quarantine.
“We’re not experiencing any difficulties with that,” Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said of the county’s coronavirus testing capabilities.
Tarrant County’s public health lab serves 33 counties, and is one of 10 that is expected to have local testing capabilities by the end of March. Abbott said last week that once all 10 labs are up and running, the network will be capable of conducting more than 125 tests per day.
“It’s not one of these things where we’re going to test everybody,” Whitley said, stressing that the county’s lab is following set protocols and pointing to other available testing options, like Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, with a doctor’s referral.
More than 1,400 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the United States, and a growing number of governors have issued disaster proclamations or states of emergency over coronavirus concerns. Abbott has yet to make a similar declaration for Texas.
“He said that he might consider that, but that was really very much just almost in passing,” Whitley said. “I know we’re looking at that in Tarrant County.”
City and county officials in Austin, San Antonio and Houston have previously declared local states of disaster, canceling large events like the SXSW festival.
Whitley pointed to Tarrant County’s businesses already taking precautions by canceling events, and said that an emergency declaration may help the county if it runs into issues with purchasing laws.
For example, the city may have an immense demand for services it needs to contract for, but could be slowed by the required bidding process, or an existing vendor may run out of necessary supplies.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said the decision to cancel crowded events was in the hands of individual organizers. The city has been assessing the coronavirus risk for a month a month, she said, and would shortly release a plan for upcoming public meetings, including Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
On Thursday morning, the American Athletic Conference canceled its men’s basketball tournament, which was slated for Dickies Arena Thursday afternoon through Sunday. The games would have brought college basketball fans from 12 universities to town. Public events in Sundance Square were also called off through March.
Visit Fort Worth, the city’s tourism bureau, had not yet estimated the economic impact of canceling the basketball tournament, a spokesman said.
Price said Fort Worth likely would not go untouched by a sluggish economy. Hotels and restaurants may see a downturn along with venues and other attractions. That could hurt Fort Worth’s sales tax revenue, she said.
“The reduction in crowds alone could have a significant impact on businesses, and that in turn impacts us,” she said.
To help with that, Price said the governor discussed disaster-related small business loans. Such a program would require federal and state guidelines before a city could dole out funds.
In addition, Abbott encouraged local officials to track any expenses related to responding to the pandemic for possible reimbursement with federal funds. Texas is expected to receive an initial $35 million in federal money, which will be allocated to communities.
Price equated the funds to relief Fort Worth received after the 2000 tornado and said they would be tailored to the needs of each community.
Price said the hour-long call was “calm” and most who asked questions appeared to be well prepared.
“The idea is to use care and caution to make sure the public feels as comfortable about this as possible,” she said.
Whitley stressed that residents who feel unwell should stay at home, and that communities at greater risk, like seniors or people with underlying health issues, should limit travel.
“There are (an) unlimited number of what-ifs,” Whitley said when asked about when local officials may decide to establish new measures to combat the spread. “We’re communicating almost on a round the clock basis, and if we feel like things change to the point that we need to do something like that, then at that point in time we’ll do it.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 5:25 PM.
