Coronavirus Briefs: Dallas County Hits 30,000 Total Cases.

Dallas County Passes 30,000 Total Cases On Thursday, Educators Voice Concerns About Holding In-Person Classes For The Coming School Year And Much More. 

Temperatures are on the rise as is the latest in all things Coronavirus related. A couple of new developments have occured since our holiday weekend check-in.

Here is a quick roundup of the latest updates for North Texas.

• On Thursday, Dallas County reported an additional 1,201 positive cases, bringing the total to 30,361 cases county-wide. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has continued to remind residents to wear masks at all times when out in public. He also mentioned that the likelihood of encountering an infected individual is higher now than when the Safer At Home order was in place. So please, mask up.

NEW: Dallas County Reports 1,201 Additional Positive 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases and 10 Deaths pic.twitter.com/aS2PHgqebr

— Clay Jenkins (@JudgeClayJ) July 9, 2020

• Five more testing sites will be hosted at churches around Dallas courtesy of Project Unity’s ‘Together We Test’ program. The neighborhoods of Desoto, Oak Cliff, Fair Park, Love Field and Hamilton Park can access walk-up testing until July 17 at designated locations. Organizers ask that all individuals wear masks, expect wait times and stay hydrated in the summer heat.
• Texas schools are given a set of public health guidelines to follow but educators are still concerned it won’t be enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19. On Tuesday, the Texas Education Agency released an extensive list of health guidelines for the upcoming school year. Educators voiced their concerns about how these guidelines could be executed since not all classrooms are created equal and social distancing may not always be an option. Even though masks will be required for any child over the age of 10 that may not be enough to curve the spread, especially as cases in children are slowly rising, with 1,500 in Dallas testing positive in June alone.
• The STAAR Test could be put on hold in Dallas public schools to allow a stronger focus on facing the COVID-19 pandemic in an academic setting. Back in April, Gov. Greg Abbott waived the requirement for the standardized test for the spring 2020 semester and is now revisiting the conversation for the 2020-2021 school year. Texas State Representative Morgan Meyer tweeted a letter on Thursday to Commissioner Mike Morath requesting the test be waived for the upcoming school year. Last month Morath announced the STAAR test would be making a comeback. No word yet on if that is to become a permanent decision.
• Dallas residents who frequent public pools in the Texas heat will need to find a new option to cool off . Dallas Parks and Recreation released a memo outlining the activities that have been put on pause for the time being. The memo includes recreational actives such as summer camps, but spraygrounds will remain open for families looking to beat the heat.
• Deep-fried food lovers will have to wait to tell Big Tex howdy until next year, as the State Fair of Texas has been officially cancelled for the 2020 season. An official statement was made Tuesday and a COVID-19 update followed, which includes a FAQ for all information regarding refunds, as well as what to expect for the 2021 fair season. The countdown to opening day went from a matter of a couple months to 441 days as of publish. We aren’t losing any sleep over this, though.
• The Dallas Arts industry has lost nearly $34 million since the pandemic began. Several arts advocacy groups in North Texas conducted a survey of more than 50 Dallas arts nonprofit organizations which found $33.65M in financial losses over the first two and a half of the pandemic in the U.S. It also found 649 artists have been laid off or furloughed so far.

That’s all for now on the COVID-19 front for this week. Make sure to check back in on Tuesday to see what has unfolded over the weekend. We’re sure there will be plenty, as the speed at which the news cycle moves seems faster than ever.

Oh, and please, for the love of all things ever, stay home as much as possible and wear a damn mask.