Why close down? Do the math. Tarrant County has 2.1 million people — and 362 ICU beds.
We are smarter today than we were last Sunday, or even Friday.
We know we will not be able to totally stop a novel coronavirus that poses a deadly threat to the elderly and those at higher risk, particularly in a county of 2.1 million people but only 362 intensive-care hospital beds.
But now we know more about COVID-19. And we know more about how to take care of each other.
In Fort Worth, Arlington and Texas, we take care of each other.
To younger and middle-aged Texans, that means a lot of handwashing, limiting travel and keeping a distance from others.
It’s all meant to slow down the virus’ spread, so medicine, manufacturing and the health care system can catch up.
To older Texans, taking care means limiting travel to local trips only and avoiding risk of exposure.
We’re not only trying to take care of each other. We’re trying to take care of a healthcare system that can’t take many sick people.
Tarrant County’s 362 ICU beds are for everybody. So if everybody gets sick at once, we don’t have the necessary beds, the medicine, the respiratory equipment or the nursing staff.
Fortunately, Texas took COVID-19 seriously.
When certain other politicians — I won’t name names — called pandemic risk a hoax, a panic or a political plot, Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas leaders remained somber and guarded.
The state health commissioner, Austin pediatrician Dr. John Hellerstedt, and the state infectious disease specialist, Dr. Jennifer Shuford, warned officials, lawmakers and county authorities since January about COVID-19.
The Texas infectious disease task force was reactivated Feb. 4.
“I was cautious when I heard about it, but I really applaud the state’s effort,” said state Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, a 35-year nurse and leader of Texas House Republicans’ majority party caucus.
(Klick is a guest Sunday at 9 a.m. on WFAA/Channel 8 “Inside Texas Politics.”)
On her Facebook page, she wrote back correcting skeptics: “This is more serious than the common cold or the flu.”
“People ask, ‘Is this really necessary?’ Yes, it’s really necessary — we don’t want to overrun the healthcare system,” she said Saturday.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the leader of President Donald Trump’s Texas campaign, has quietly expressed more concern than Trump about the virus and canceled Senate hearings Monday.
“The fact that we canceled all hearings shows that we all take it serious,” state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, replied Saturday.
“This is where Abbott excels,” he wrote in an online message.
“Whether it’s floods, fires, tornadoes, or viruses, dating all the way back to the 1840s, Texans have always performed well when challenged. We will once again.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, of course, is in his second round of responsible self-quarantine after exposure to two persons with COVID-19.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, a Republican leader of a Democratic city who must work with officials in both parties, praised the governor and state officials.
“From the start, the state has been in contact,” she wrote in a message.
“They are using good public health info to direct this while allowing local officials to act for our community. ... I’m really pleased that they are focused on local control.”
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, met with community leaders on Saturday in heavily Republican Northeast Tarrant County.
“People were asking, ‘Is this media-driven?’ or ‘Is this just panic for no reason?’ “ he said afterward.
“A lot of people are coming to grips that this is real.”
The goal is to protect the elderly, those with high blood pressure or lung conditions, and those with compromised immune systems from a virus when we may not have the hospital beds to care for them.
“What we’ve seen in other countries is that they didn’t work together,” Capriglione said.
“If two weeks from now, everybody says, ‘Nothing happened’ — that’s fine.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2020 at 4:15 PM.
