FORT WORTH ACCEPTING PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT DONATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS
The city of Fort Worth is accepting donations of personal protective equipment to help meet the high demand for items such as gloves, masks, and gowns for health care workers.
Donations can be dropped off curbside between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth Donation Centers or Southwest Regional, East Regional, Summerglen and Northwest public libraries.
No homemade masks will be accepted and all donated items must be new and unopened.
Dallas County confirmed its eighth and ninth COVID-19 Fort Worth News deaths Saturday and 72 new cases to push its total to 439. The eighth and ninth deaths in the county involved a man in his 50s who lived in DeSoto and a man in his 70s who was a resident of Dallas. The DeSoto man did not have chronic high-risk medical conditions, the county health agency said.
Collin County confirmed 31 new coronavirus cases Friday, including 11 in Plano, and five each in McKinney and Frisco. There have been 118 total cases, including 39 in Plano. Four of the Plano patients work for the Plano Police Department.
Denton County Public Health on Saturday announced the county’s second COVID-19 related death. The patient, an Aubrey man in his 60s, was hospitalized and contracted the disease from local transmission, according to a news release.
Denton County reported 11 new cases on Saturday, bringing its total to 148 cases, 40 of which are at the Denton State Supported Living Center. One additional DSSLC staff member tested positive and is included in Saturday’s total.
Johnson County confirmed four new cases Friday, for a total of six, and issued a stay-at-home order that took effect at midnight Friday.
That brings the total for counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area to more than 800 as of Friday.
40 COVID-19 CASES CONFIRMED AT DENTON LIVING CENTER AS NEW MEASURES TAKE EFFECT
Denton County officials identified 31 more people infected with the coronavirus at the Denton State Supported Living Center on Friday and one on Saturday, bringing the total to 40 cases at the residential facility that has turned into a hot spot for the virus in Texas.
Texas health officials on Friday announced they’re instituting new measures at the facility and providing more resources in an effort to protect residents and staff, and curb the spread of COVID-19. The campus is made up of about 1,470 employees and 450 residents who have intellectual or developmental disabilities.
That includes dedicating multiple homes on campus to isolate residents who test positive for the virus and don’t require hospitalization, according to a news release from Texas Health and Human Services, which is instituting the changes. There will also be up to four ambulances on-campus available to transport anyone who requires hospitalization. THHS is reportedly working with the Texas Division of Emergency Management to secure space in area hospitals.
There were an additional 23 cases identified in Denton County outside of the living center, officials said on Friday.
Denton County confirmed a single-day record of 54 new coronavirus cases, including 31 at the State Supported Living Center.
Three employees of the supported living facility also have tested positive, and their cases are reflected in the county’s report based on the cities where they live. They include one employee who lives outside of Denton County and is not counted in the county’s cases.
The county overall now has 148 cases as of Saturday. Of the total cases, 29 have at one point required hospitalization.
A CITY WITHOUT WEEKEND PLANS: CORONAVIRUS TAKES AWAY FORT WORTH’S CULTURE
I saw somebody going out on Magnolia Avenue Thursday night. Of course, in the coronavirus era, that means I saw a blue Porsche pulling up to Ellerbe Fine Foods and a gloved-up employee dropping a to-go bag into the backseat. That is the extent of going out these days. If you really want to get crazy perhaps you could enjoy the meal at home while listening to a live-streamed concert.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Fort Worth was supposed to be coming to life right now. The Food and Wine Festival was scheduled for next weekend. Jubilee Theatre had produced a musical comedy centered on church. Cory Morrow was booked Friday night at Billy Bob’s. The spacious patio at Bearded Lady was ready to be packed with 20 and 30-somethings drinking craft beer.
But because of the coronavirus Fort Worth is a city without nightlife. It is a city without theater and art and music, a city without fine dining and dance clubs and honky tonks. It is a city without weekend plans. Which also means that Fort Worth —like Austin, Dallas, El Paso and other places across the state and country — is a city without a pulse.
“Your music, your food, your entertainment,” says chef and restaurateur Jon Bonnell, “it’s kind of what drives humanity.”
Bonnell has spent the last several days at his namesake restaurant in south Fort Worth. He’s the guy placing the to-go bag in people’s backseats. Six employees are working around the clock preparing family dinners. Thursday night was fried chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans. They’re serving 500 people a day. But the sales approximate perhaps 10% of a regular weekend.
At his Buffalo Bros. restaurants, with NCAA Tournament games, Press Release Distribution Services In Fort Worth he would’ve expected to make $28,000 a day. Bonnell suspects he’ll make $2,000. He has already let go of about 230 of his 260 employees and questions whether he’ll make payroll in two weeks.
His years in culinary school and in the industry never prepared him to have to make such painful decisions and to see a city bereft of food culture. “The idea of driving up to the window,” he said, “can’t replace going out to dinner.”
Fort Worth’s top cultural areas are now ghost towns. Runners trample on empty sidewalks on Main Street. The fountains are off at Sundance Square. The sight of what used to pass for routine is now strange. “Usually this is patio weather,” says musician Ryan Higgs. “This is when everyone starts perking up a little bit and hitting the patios at other places. It’s eerie to see Magnolia and Main just dead. I know some people sat on The Chat Room patio the other day and somebody called the city on it. Like ‘are they open?’ I think it was because the weather was nice, and some people just went out and sat on their own.”
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