White House says Texas has ‘full resurgence’ of COVID-
`19 and must do more to slow spread
`
`dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/11/30/white-house-says-texas-has-full-resurgence-of-covid-19-and-must-do-
`more-to-slow-spread
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`November 30, 2020
`
`news
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`Politics
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`Latest in a series of reports previously kept under wraps sends
`strong warning.
`
`Giana Towns helps a client fill out their information before getting a COVID-19 swab test at Project
`Unity's free testing site at Glendale Shopping Center, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, in Dallas. The group is
`setting up daily testing sites at different locations daily. (Vernon Bryant//The Dallas Morning News via
`AP) (Vernon Bryant)
`
`AUSTIN — The White House, pointing to a “full resurgence” of COVID-19 in Texas, says
`the state must do more to stop the virus’ spread.
`
`Guidance issued last week calls on Texas to proactively test teachers, hospital staff and
`other community members to search for silent spreaders, and to significantly reduce the
`number of people allowed to gather indoors.
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`19 and must do more to slow spread
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`dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/11/30/white-house-says-texas-has-full-resurgence-of-covid-19-and-must-do-
`more-to-slow-spread
`
`November 30, 2020
`
`news
`
`Politics
`
`Latest in a series of reports previously kept under wraps sends
`strong warning.
`
`Giana Towns helps a client fill out their information before getting a COVID-19 swab test at Project
`Unity's free testing site at Glendale Shopping Center, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, in Dallas. The group is
`setting up daily testing sites at different locations daily. (Vernon Bryant//The Dallas Morning News via
`AP) (Vernon Bryant)
`
`AUSTIN — The White House, pointing to a “full resurgence” of COVID-19 in Texas, says
`the state must do more to stop the virus’ spread.
`
`Guidance issued last week calls on Texas to proactively test teachers, hospital staff and
`other community members to search for silent spreaders, and to significantly reduce the
`number of people allowed to gather indoors.
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`Featured on Dallas News
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`North Texas has millions in unspent aid for renters during the pandemic, yet 75% of
`applications…
`With tens of thousands of similar stories across North Texas, housing advocates are
`worried that…
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`“The silent community spread that precedes and continues to drive these surges can only
`be identified and interrupted through proactive, focused testing,” said the White House
`report issued Nov. 22. “This must be combined with significant behavior change of all
`Americans.”
`
`The recommendations, made before the Thanksgiving holiday, were made public Monday
`by the Center for Public Integrity.
`
`The White House’s coronavirus task force has been producing detailed reports for all 50
`states since June. Each report contains county-level statistics about the virus’ spread, as
`well as recommendations tailored to each state. But the reports are not widely available,
`making it difficult to evaluate if certain states have followed the guidelines.
`
`On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott declined to answer questions about the report’s
`recommendations. Instead, spokeswoman Renae Eze said the state is sending resources
`and medication to hard-hit areas and suggested local authorities need to do more to
`enforce occupancy limits and mask orders.
`
`As winter approaches, COVID-19 cases are soaring nationwide. While the latest report put
`Texas in the “red zone” for its high level of coronavirus cases, much of the country is worse
`off. The report ranked Texas 34th for cases per capita.
`
`Still, the report declares that Texas has seen an “ever rising, unsustainable increase in
`hospitalizations” and that “mitigation efforts must intensify.”
`
`It suggests the state significantly reduce capacity or close public spaces where masking is
`not possible.
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`Politics
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`Texas Gov. Greg Abbott rejects sterner measures against COVID-19 as
`single-day cases hit new record
`
`With at least six hospital regions in Texas burdened by worrisome loads of coronavirus
`patients, Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday traveled to one such area – Lubbock – to hail the
`federal government’s distribution of a new antibody treatment.
`By Robert T. Garrett
`Abbott resisted some calls to tighten up COVID-19 restrictions ahead of Thanksgiving, as
`public health experts warned cases could surge with people traveling to visit family.
`
`Under his current order, many businesses in Texas, such as restaurants, bowling alleys and
`movie theaters, are open at 75% of capacity. Regions must scale back when at least 15% of
`hospital beds are taken up by COVID-19 patients for seven days straight.
`
`Six areas over the limit
`
`Six have already hit the trigger, forcing restaurants and certain other businesses to limit
`capacity to 50%. They include counties from the Panhandle to El Paso, in addition to the
`areas around Waco and Laredo. Seven other regions, including one that covers Dallas and
`Fort Worth, have met the hospitalization threshold for several days in a row, but have not
`reached the one-week mark.
`
`If hospitalizations continue to rise, the state may need to consider other action, said David
`Lakey, vice chancellor for health affairs and chief medical officer at the University of Texas
`System.
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`“If they go up significantly, they will need to strongly consider backing off on some of the
`businesses that are open,” he said.
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`Since transmission is so widespread, it is often not possible to pinpoint where someone
`catches the virus.
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`“As has been seen nationally, we’ve heard reports from local jurisdictions throughout the
`pandemic that a significant amount of spread is being traced to smaller gatherings of
`family and friends,” Department of State Health Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen
`said.
`
`On Monday, the state health department reported that 8,900 people were hospitalized with
`COVID-19 in Texas. When the state first reached that level in July, Abbott had already
`issued a statewide mask order that is still in place and temporarily closed bars.
`
`Dallas County is at its highest rate of infection since the pandemic began, with 53 new daily
`cases per 100,000 residents. Cases are continuing to appear in the community at large, but
`also in long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, group homes and halfway houses,
`Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a statement Monday.
`
`More testing, White House says
`
`Even though Texas has ramped up its testing capacity dramatically since the start of the
`epidemic, the White House report calls for more proactive community testing to search for
`asymptomatic spreaders.
`
`Education
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`Dallas ISD plans to start testing student athletes for COVID-19
`
`By Jesus Jimenez
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`Some universities, correctional facilities and nursing homes have already been conducting
`such testing. The state has distributed nearly 1 million test kits to 496 school systems,
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`including Dallas ISD, according to the Texas Education Agency.
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`The report recommends testing groups representative of the community, such as teachers,
`community college students, county workers, staff in crowded settings, all hospital
`personnel and large private sector employers. It also suggests the state begin planning for
`weekly testing of all college students once they return to campus this winter.
`
`While widespread testing can be helpful, it’s also voluntary, so some people may not
`participate because a positive result and ensuing quarantine could cost them their jobs,
`Lakey said.
`
`“Testing like that is helpful,” he said, “but it can’t take the place of these other community
`mitigation strategies.”
`
`While some states have released the White House task force reports to the public, Texas
`has not.
`
`This summer, the White House told The Dallas Morning News it couldn’t release the
`reports and suggested asking Abbott. When The News asked Abbott, his office said it
`needed to check with the White House.
`
`After not hearing back from the White House for several months, only this week did the
`governor’s office say it would begin releasing the reports.
`
`As such, it’s still unclear what the White House task force has been recommending for
`Texas for most of the late summer and fall.
`
`Allie Morris, Austin Bureau Correspondent . Allie has covered Texas politics for two years
`and written about everything from tax policy to child protection. She previously worked for
`the San Antonio Express-News and in New Hampshire, as the statehouse reporter for the
`Concord Monitor.
`
`allie.morris@dallasnews.com
`
`@MorrisReports
`
`Sue Ambrose. Sue Ambrose has worked as a reporter for The Dallas Morning News since
`1995. A member of the investigative team since 2008, she has reported on hospital safety,
`mismanagement at state agencies and misspending of public funds. She began her
`journalism career covering science.
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`Copyright © 2020 The Dallas Morning News. All rights
`reserved.
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