KRLD 1080

Tarrant County Reporting 763 New COVID-19 Cases, 10 Deaths

Tarrant County Public Health director Vinny Taneja announced that the county has recorded 763 new positive coronavirus cases today.This brings the total number of virus cases in the county to 15,595, of which 6,686 people have recovered.Also 10 new deaths were reported, bring the total number of deaths to 248.585 people remain hospitalized in Tarrant County due to coronavirus complications.

July 07, 2020

Fort Worth Bar Has Liquor License Suspended For Opening During Closure

A Fort Worth club which opened July 4th despite being ordered not too gets punished for the stunt.Chris Polone, who owns The Rail Club Live in west Fort Worth, took to Facebook to announce that the club's liquor license has been suspended for 30 days.On Saturday, Polone opened the club to live music, but did not impose a cover charge and did not serve alcohol.Polone also took other measures, including disinfecting the business, spreading out tables and limiting occupancy to 40 guests.Chris Porter with the TABC said none of those factors mattered in the decision, and that Polone will be able to state his case.

July 07, 2020

Dallas County Reports Record Number Of COVID-19 Cases, More Hospitalizations

Dallas County has now reported more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 each of the past four days and reported a record 1,214 cases Monday.Dallas County has now confirmed more than 27,000 cases of COVID-19; more than 200,000 cases have been confirmed across Texas."Hopefullly, our public can see that it is time for us to, essentially, limit all of our public activities to absolute necessities," says Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.Jenkins says hospitalizations also increased 16% Monday alone, with 105 additional patients in Dallas County."Even if we do everything we should be doing, in all likelihood, we will reach maximum normal capacity for our hospitals sometime in the middle of this month," he says.Jenkins wants Governor Greg Abbott to shut down gyms, movie theaters and amusement parks. He also wants restaurants to be limited to carry-out or drive-thru.Abbott's office says he is "listening to the advice of doctors and following data which is why he closed bars. He will continue to make his decisions based on the data."The testing "positivity rate" in Texas has now stayed above 13 percent for the past ten days, reaching a high of 14.31% June 27 and remaining at 13.5% Monday.Abbott has said a positivity rate above ten percent is a "red flag" that would require additional closures. When the positivity rate first hit ten percent, Abbott ordered bars to be closed and restaurants to reduce capacity from 75 to 50%.

July 07, 2020

FC Dallas Forced To Withdraw From MLS Tournament Because Of Coronavirus

FC Dallas has been forced to pull out of the "MLS Is Back" tournament in Orlando because of Coronvirus infections.Ten players and a coach have tested positive.The order was apparently made by MLS because FC Dallas President Dan Hunt put out a statement saying, in part, "we absolutely agree with the league's decision to withdraw FC Dallas" from the tournament.Now, the team has to figure out a way to get out of Orlando safely and return to North Texas.The infected personnel are apparently still under the mandatory quarantine.

July 07, 2020

Another Record High For New Coronavirus Cases Reported In North Texas

Another record high number of new coronavirus cases are reported in Dallas County, and the county Judge is urging everyone to do more to help slow the spread.Dallas County reported 1,214 new cases and 6 new deaths yesterday.NEW: Dallas County Reports Largest Increase in COVID-19 Hospitalizations Thus Far and 1,214 Additional Positive 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases pic.twitter.com/DZiqsWntIA— Clay Jenkins (@JudgeClayJ) July 6, 2020 820 new cases were confirmed in Tarrant County, along with 2 additional deaths.186 new cases and one death were reported in Collin County, and 65 new cases in Denton County.There are currently 1607 people with the virus hospitalized in North Texas.Nearly 3,000 beds remains available along with 369 ICU beds and more than 1,200 ventilators, according to health officials.

July 07, 2020

UT Poll Shows COVID-19 Concerns Decline As Pandemic Worsens

As the number of reported cases of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations was increasing in June, Texans expressed less concern about the threat of the virus than they did in April and were much less likely to stay home because of the pandemic, according to polling by the Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin.The poll surveyed 1,200 Texans during June 19-29 and compared responses to a set of identical questions asked in an April poll conducted by the same researchers about the pandemic. The results found significant changes in the attitudes and reported behaviors of Texans about the pandemic, including:• The share of Texans who reported being “extremely” or “very” concerned about the spread of the coronavirus in their community decreased from 54% in April to 47% in June. Those who reported being “not very” or “not at all” concerned about its spread in their community increased from 17% to 26%.• The share reporting being “extremely” or “very” concerned about either themselves or family members contracting the virus decreased from 54% to 48%, while those who reported being “not very” or “not at all” concerned increased from 17% to 27%.• The share who reported that they were only leaving their residence when they “absolutely” had to decreased dramatically from 63% to 37%. Those who reported that they were “living normally, coming and going as usual” more than doubled from 9% to 19%.“Although it’s safe to assume that fatigue with staying at home is a widespread feeling, we saw much larger decreases in concern and reported limiting of public behaviors among Republicans than we did among Democrats,” said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project and co-director of the poll. “Mixed messages from national and state leaders about the severity of the virus and its spread have clearly influenced people’s behaviors along partisan lines, with Republicans more open to suggestions from Republican elected officials that we could begin returning to normal without a worsening of the public health situation.”Online: Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin

July 07, 2020

How Risky Is Your Behavior During This Pandemic?

TEXAS (1080 KRLD)- The Texas Medical Association physicians were asked to assign a risk of 1 (least risk) to 10 (riskiest) to activities using the following criteria: Whether it’s inside or outside; proximity to others; exposure time; the likelihood of compliance; and personal risk level. They were asked to assume that participants in these activities are following currently recommended safety protocols when possible.The activities included in the chart were ranked by physicians from the TMA COVID-19 Task Force and the TMA Committee on Infectious Diseases. Low-risk activities include opening the mail, ordering restaurant takeout, and pumping gasoline.The most risky behavior; going to a bar.Be informed. Know your risk. Stay safe. pic.twitter.com/t6G71wAHU6— Texas Medical Association (@texmed) July 3, 2020

July 06, 2020

Free Walk-Up Coronavirus Testing Site Opens In Fort Worth

A free walk-up testing site opens today in Fort Worth and will stay open through Wednesday.The testing site is at Logan Elementary School on Dillard Street.Mike Drivdahl with the Fort Worth Office of Emergency Management says they're trying to make it as easy as possible to get people tested.There's no appointment required and no residency requirements, they will not be turning anyone away.The only requirement is for people to provide a telephone number where they can reach you to deliver the results.The testing site is open today through Wednesday from 10am - 4pm.

July 06, 2020

State Threatens To Close Down Fort Worth Bar That Hosted Gathering

A bar in Fort Worth may lose its liquor license for 30 days for opening over Fourth of July weekend.The owner of Rail Club Live posted a note on Facebook, urging people to come for a "Tea Party protest" Saturday."The fact they say bars are more dangerous or high risk than other places, are you kidding me?" Chris Polone told the crowd. "We have just been mandated to wear masks in every single business across the State of Texas, but you can walk into a mega-church right now and not wear a mask at all."Fort Worth Code Compliance says Polone was notified last week he was required to stay closed, and the agency had notified the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Representatives from the TABC and Department of Public Safety met Polone outside the bar Saturday, warning him that while he would not be arrested, his liquor license may be suspended for 30 days.Video posted on Rail Club Live's Facebook page shows Polone tell the officer he would not close, but he shook the officer's hand when he went back into the bar. He then tore up a copy of Abbott's order as the crowd inside cheered."Now, we wait on the City of Fort Worth. That was the first step. By the way, according to the U.S. Constitution, this piece of paper's worthless," he said.Polone says the order violated his freedom to assemble, saying he did not charge admission or charge for drinks. He says the event Saturday was a protest.Polone says he took steps to keep people safe Saturday. He says he spaced tables farther apart, and employees handed out masks to customers as they walked in. Customers were required to wear masks during the event.

July 06, 2020

Dallas County Reports Over 1,000 New Virus Cases

In Dallas County, more than one thousand new cases of the coronavirus were reported again for the 3rd day in a row.1,062 cases were confirmed yesterday in what Dallas County Judge Clay calls "rampant community spread." .@DCHHS reports 1,062 cases. Today we are fortunate to report no new deaths; however, we do have over 1,000 new cases. The situation is that we are experiencing rampant community spread and it’s up to all of us to #FlattenTheCurve. pic.twitter.com/DRcIEG4qL6— Clay Jenkins (@JudgeClayJ) July 5, 2020 Jenkins is urging everyone to wear a mask whenever you leave home. No additional deaths were reported.1,103 new cases and 2 deaths were reported Saturday in Dallas County, and 1,085 new cases and 6 deaths were confirmed Friday.112 new cases were confirmed in Collin County Sunday and 59 new cases in Denton County with no additionals deaths in either county.

July 06, 2020