Collin College Summer Registration

Department of Defense sends teams to assist hospitals in COVID crisis

by | Jul 23, 2020 | Opinion

COVID-19 turned aggressive to the point last week that the Department of Defense activated U.S. Army and U.S. Navy medical task force teams and assigned them to Texas at Gov. Greg Abbott’s request.

Teams were deployed to sup­port Houston and San Antonio hospitals and medical facilities in hard-hit Rio Grande Valley. The Texas Division of Emer­gency Management was on the job, too, working with local officials to line up additional hospital capacity in Cameron and Hidalgo counties and to identify other sites to house pa­tients who are recovering from COVID-19.

Some $41 million in federal funds are being put toward as­sisting cities and counties in the COVID-19 response, Abbott said. Those funds will be used by local government for first responder overtime and hazard pay, equipment and supplies for teleworking technologies, social distancing and personal protective gear, county jail costs associated with medical needs of inmates and as reim­bursement for holding inmates awaiting transfer to the state prison system.

Cumulative figures posted July 19 by the Texas Depart­ment of State Health Services showed some 325,030 people in Texas diagnosed with the deadly virus, and 3,958 con­firmed deaths resulting from the disease.

TEA: Schools to open

Texas schools will open next month, but school systems will be allowed to limit access to on-campus instruction for the first four weeks of school, the Texas Education Agency an­nounced July 17.

A school system may limit access to on-campus instruction for an additional four weeks with a board-approved waiver request to the TEA. Health and safety procedures will be in place to support student and teacher safety, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said.

All students, teachers, staff and visitors coming to campus must be screened before be­ing allowed on campus. Masks will be required while in school buildings, with certain excep­tions.

More information is avail­able at tea.texas.gov.

On July 17, Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Sen­ate Finance Committee Chair Jane Nelson, Vice Chair Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, and House Appropriations Committee Chair Giovanni Capriglione and Vice Chair Oscar Longoria announced the state would allo­cate $200 million in Coronavi­rus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to the Texas Education Agency for the purchase of eLearning devices and home internet solu­tions to enable remote learning during the COVID-19 pandem­ic for Texas students who lack connectivity.

Runoff results are in

Mary “MJ” Hegar of Round Rock won the Democratic Party runoff for U.S. Senate with 498,180 votes to 457,555 for state Sen. Royce West of Dallas, so Hegar will face in­cumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn of San Antonio in the Nov. 3 general election.

In the only runoff for a state agency office, Texas Railroad Commission, Democrats chose Dallas lawyer Chrysta Castañe­da over Robert Alonzo of Dal­las, a former longtime member of the Texas House of Repre­sentatives. Castañeda received 575,460 votes to 353,399 for Alonzo. Complete election re­sults are posted at sos.texas.gov.

It’s hot, so be careful

With summer air tempera­tures reaching 100 degrees and higher, the Texas Department of Public Safety on July 14 re­minded the public to take extra heat-related safety precautions.

Children, the sick, elders and pets should not be left alone in vehicles. Drivers should always check all passenger and cargo areas before walking away from their vehicle, the DPS said.

Jobless rate improves

Texas added 243,900 private sector positions in June, result­ing in an unemployment rate of 8.6%, the Texas Workforce Commission reported July 17. The state’s unemployment rate in May was 13.0%.

The Amarillo Metropolitan Statistical Area recorded the lowest non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June among Texas MSAs with 6%, followed by Abilene at 6.4% and College Station-Bryan at 6.5%.

The national unemployment rate stood at 11.1% in June.

Agency releases data

More information about oil and gas field cleanup programs are publicly available now, the Texas Railroad Commission announced July 15.

Data posted at rrc.texas.gov/data-visualization/ includes bar graphs, an interactive Texas map, a list of counties and other search options.

“These latest additions will help the public and energy in­dustry operators easily see key aspects of the important work we do in protecting the safety of Texans and the envi­ronment,” said Texas Railroad Commission Executive Direc­tor Wei Wang.

For more stories like this, see July 23 issue or subscribe online.

By Ed Sterling, member services director for the Texas Press Association

Grad Profile Leaderboard

0 Comments

Subscribe 300x250 - Love

Related News

A numbers game

A numbers game

You don't see phone books much anymore. But even when they were around, columnist John Moore was nowhere to be found in one.Courtesy John Moore For those of us who once made our living working on the radio, one of the main competitors we had for advertising dollars...

read more
What a trip

What a trip

Traveling isn't columnist John Moore's favorite activity. He's pictured here with his father on a camping trip circa 1966. Courtesy John Moore Bruce Willis ad libbed a line in Die Hard that struck a chord with me. No, not the “Yipee Ki-Yay,” line. I think...

read more
Kitsch me if you can

Kitsch me if you can

Columnist John Moore grew up with yard art, and still proudly displays a concrete gargoyle out on the front porch. Photo: John Moore Pink flamingos. Chalk and concrete figures. Cast iron pots with flowers. Old school bells. Cars on blocks. The yard art of yesterday....

read more
Put a pencil to it

Put a pencil to it

Columnist John Moore loves pencils. Even pencils that cost $30. Courtesy John Moore They call it, “click bait.” It’s when you come across something online that sounds amazing, so you click on it to learn more. Click bait is something that turns out to be nothing as...

read more
Who makes America great

Who makes America great

It’s not about one person, it never was. I don’t care who that person is or was, it has always been of the people, for the people and by the people. It is what our founding fathers had in mind when they penned the Constitution. They knew then what we keep forgetting —...

read more
Voucher bill has backing of House majority

Voucher bill has backing of House majority

A slim majority of Texas House members have indicated they will back House Bill 3, which creates education savings accounts that allow families to use taxpayer money for private school education. The Dallas Morning News reported that 75 Republican legislators have...

read more
HB2988 threatens Texans’ right to free speech

HB2988 threatens Texans’ right to free speech

Marcus Winkler from Pixabay Imagine being the target of a vexatious lawsuit completely without merit in which you ultimately prevail—only to find out that you not only have to pay your attorney’s fees but also the other side’s.  That’s the likely outcome if the...

read more
Door number one

Door number one

Columnist John Moore has some milk bottles to return, but the milkman no longer stops by his home. Courtesy John Moore Social media, for all of its faults, every now and then offers something worthwhile. I’m a member of a group on Facebook called, “Dull Men.” The only...

read more
Subscribe 300x250 - Love