Tuesday, April 07, 2020

The TexProgBlog Wrangle, Extra Edition


So much wrangled we needed another pen.  The first one, yesterday, is here.

From Angela Valenzuela of the Ed Equity, Politics, and Policy in Texas blog:

Late breaking COVID update just now in the Austin American-Statesman. Not covered, however, are the South Texas counties getting hit by COVID.  According to the Corpus Christi Caller Times and The Monitor out of McAllen, the virus is impacting the following cities: Mercedes, Mission, La Joya, McAllen, Donna, Alamo, and San Juan -- that is, in Hidalgo and Cameron County.

In my West Texas hometown of San Angelo, as of two days ago, 20 have it while many others are getting tested.

And from her link to the AAS:

More than 1,153 people are being treated for COVID-19 in Texas hospitals, an increase of more than 300 people from Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference Monday.

[...]

His latest news conference comes after the coronavirus’s death toll in Texas surpassed 100 over the weekend, rising to 140 fatalities Monday, according to the latest data from the Department of State Health Services. The daily count is a 13-person jump from Sunday and a 50-person increase from Friday.

More than 85,000 COVID-19 tests have been given in Texas, a 20% increase from the day prior, according to Abbott. Less than 10% of those have tested positive for the virus, he added.

[...]

Abbott for the first time on Friday revealed the number of ventilators — a life-saving device for critically ill patients — available for use statewide: 8,741. By Monday, more than 6,000 ventilators were available, but Abbott said 7,350 anesthesia machines with ventilators “could be used if needed.”

In its daily count Monday afternoon, Department of State Health Services reported 702 fresh cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The state’s total of known cases is 6,812, an increase of 464 cases from the day prior.

Now, 157 out of 254 Texas counties are reporting cases of the coronavirus.

Harris County has 1,395 cases, the most of any county. Dallas County follows with 1,112, and Travis County comes in third with 418, according to agency data.

Much of the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas and lower parts of the Panhandle still have no known cases of the coronavirus, according to the department’s data.

Here is an interactive dashboard from the Department of State Health Services (very cool), and here's some mapsThe Texas Signal has a few charts.  And here's more on the effects of the contagion in the RGV.




Those who are concerned about the spread of the virus in immigrant detention facilities at the border -- and in Houston -- have plenty to be worried about.



With respect to the incarcerated population in Houston and surrounding ...


The emotional burden of outlawing women's reproductive freedom is exacting a painful toll.



Domestic violence cases have seen one of the largest increases on the police blotter.  And the overt rage toward Asian Texans worsens.


Those with the least always seem to be hit the hardest.


And the state flexes its authoritarian muscle at the Sabine.


Meanwhile, Zoombombing troubles the more fortunate.


And the undercounting of us all means we will pay some price -- likely a heavy one -- for the pathogen through the next decade.


So it's important to find some bright spots among all these dark clouds, and I have a few here that I hope will help.

This story, from LareDOS, about the missing history of the Revilla Rebels, and specifically the Gutierrez de Lara brothers, provides us what public school texts do not: a pre-1836 Texas history that upends the TXSBOE's Anglo Saxon-slanted Sam Houston/Stephen F. Austin narrative.

Environment Texas gives links to explore nature online.

Clay Robison at the TSTA Blog prefers to trust the experts over the blowhards.  In that vein, Better Texas Blog highlights the role of policy in fighting hunger during a crisis.

Shari Biediger at the Rivard Report notes the surge in sales of baby chicks as egg prices have risen.

And The Bloggess wants you to remember you are not alone.

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