Coronavirus in Texas

The pandemic has been with us since late winter, but state leaders seem to have forgotten something they already know from other disasters: You can get ready when a storm is coming, or wait until it blows your roof off. Full Story 

The vice president spoke at Baptist church led by an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump and then met with Gov. Greg Abbott about the dire coronavirus situation in Texas. Full Story 

Three members of the Texas congressional delegation were potentially exposed to COVID-19 while touring immigration detention facilities in South Texas. All have tested negative for the virus. Full Story 

Gov. Greg Abbott is allowing limits on outdoor crowds — but not indoor gatherings. His party's convention — with an expected attendance of 6,000 — so far will not require attendees to wear face masks. Full Story 

The Associated Press reported that a judge wrote in her order that migrant detention centers “are ‘on fire’ and there is no more time for half measures.” Full Story 

"If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars," Abbott said in a TV interview Friday evening. Full Story 

Bars had to shut down by noon Friday after a statewide surge in coronavirus infections that officials said was largely driven by activities like congregating in close spaces. There’s no immediate plan for when they’ll be able to reopen. Full Story 

“It’s time for ... a person of color to lead one of the largest public health departments in the country,” Dawn Emerick, a white woman who has led the department for less than six months, wrote in a resignation letter this week. Full Story 

Emergency safety measures for day care centers were repealed in mid-June, but are being brought back in the face of "imminent peril." Full Story 

The vice president was already scheduled to speak Sunday at First Baptist Dallas, though his trip is taking on a more somber tone as the state scrambles to respond to what Gov. Greg Abbott has described as a "massive outbreak" of coronavirus cases. Full Story 

A bipartisan group of elected officials in Texas had urged the federal government not to close the sites. Full Story 

New cases in Texas are approaching 6,000 per day, and nearly two-thirds of them have been recorded in 11 counties over the past two weeks. Full Story 

The moves, announced Friday morning, represent Abbott's most dramatic action yet in response to a surge in cases after he allowed businesses to reopen in the state. Full Story 

While cities and legal aid agencies are setting up resources for tenants, many judges explained that they won't be able to consider loss of employment in eviction cases. Full Story 

“The setting will be similar to a Medical-Surgical Unit with a capability of treating critical care patients," reads a description for a 100-bed site in Austin, according to an email obtained by The Texas Tribune. Full Story 

“We can protect Texans’ lives while also restoring their livelihoods,” Abbott said this week. As cases surge, the question has become: How many Texans’ lives? Full Story 

It's a déjà vu moment, with the Texas government making some of the same moves to curb the spread of the coronavirus that it adopted in March — and started to get rid of a month later. The virus is spreading, and the remedies are back. Full Story 

For a second time since the start of the pandemic, Abbott banned elective surgeries to preserve bed space for coronavirus patients. But this time the hold on the nonessential procedures is only in effect for Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Travis counties. Full Story 

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, limits on cross-border commerce and a downturn in the energy sector have hit the Rio Grande Valley's economy especially hard. Full Story 

Using TaskRabbit and Venmo, a Silicon Valley investor and his business partner had workers repackage nonmedical KN95 masks so he could sell them to Texas emergency workers. Full Story