Bars And Restaurants Continue Closing, Attorney General Ken Paxton Tests Positive, BBB Warns Against Home Test Scams. Plus More.

The amount of positive COVID cases has officially surpassed the 500,000 mark, leaving Dallas to consider further safety efforts. With a daily average of 6429.4 positive COVID cases, Dallas is, unfortunately, remaining stagnant within the current state of the post-holiday surge. With Dallas County considered a hot spot for Coronavirus, the total number of COVID cases is currently 512,098 with a death toll of 5,707, as of the weekend according to Dallas County.

It goes without saying that hitting the half-a-million milestone is haunting news for North Texas, and assimilating to the ever-changing conditions is tiresome for all of us. Here are the new briefs for this week to keep you on track.

  • Texas bars and restaurants are still closing their doors. It was announced in the beginning of January that The Oak Lawn bar Alexandre’s will be temporarily closed for the rest of the month. The owner, Lee Daugherty, made the decision after one of his workers and various customers tested positive for COVID. That being said, the CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, Emily Williams Knight, is concerned that the current COVID surge could lead thousands of Texas restaurants to close their doors as well.
  • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tests positive for COVID. Paxton has vigorously opposed COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates for North Texas, and now he has contracted the virus. The Texas Tribune reports that no comments have been made from Paxton on this matter.
  • North Texas broke the hospitalizations record on January 20. On Thursday, there were 4,171 patients who contracted the virus and were admitted into the surrounding area’s hospitals, the Dallas Morning News reports. Steve Love, President and CEO of the DFW Hospital Council remains hopeful that these numbers will stabilize by January 24 through 25.
  • There was a COVID outbreak at the Dallas Theater Center. During the rehearsals for the play “Our Town” which opens on January 27, a COVID outbreak occurred among the cast and crew. The DTC manager, Jeff Woodward, is now requiring all actors to wear masks as a safety precaution.
  • Schools continue to struggle with outbreaks. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD closed all campuses Thursday and Friday due to a surge of over 230 positive student and staff COVID cases within their district. Richardson ISD closed Bowie Elementary for similar reasons. Additionally, North Texas school districts are struggling continuously to fill their substitute positions.
  • The Better Business Bureau warns against scams. CBS reported that scammers are stealing personal information with  fake websites targeting those who are trying to get their free home COVID test kits .
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