More than 500 residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long-term care centers who were evacuated are still waiting to come home, according to the state.
Edgar Walters
Edgar Walters worked at the Tribune from 2013 to 2020, most recently covering health and human services. Before that, he had a political reporting fellowship with the Berliner Zeitung, a daily newspaper in Berlin. He is a graduate of the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked as an editor for The Daily Texan. When not in the newsroom or at the Capitol, he could be found on the volleyball court, standing 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
Posted in
State Government
Federal judge says she will again hold Texas in contempt of court for failing to meet foster care reforms
Federal Judge Janis Jack hammered state child welfare officials during a two-day hearing over what she called failures to improve Texas’ foster care system.
Posted in
State Government
After a teen’s death, Texas cuts ties with a rural foster care facility, then gets a tongue-lashing from a federal judge
In the first day of a two-day hearing to evaluate progress the state has made toward resolving a long-running foster care lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Janis Jack excoriated Texas child welfare officials.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas coronavirus hospitalizations are at a two-month low, but school reopenings pose new risks
After a late July peak, the number of statewide coronavirus hospitalizations has fallen from about 11,000 per day to about 4,500. Children who are infected are less likely to be hospitalized.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas officials want to cut funding for women’s health services while preserving an anti-abortion program
An August budget document shows funding for the anti-abortion program would be maintained, but reduced for doctors and clinics that provide reduced-cost contraception and health screenings.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas is investigating its high proportion of coronavirus tests coming back positive
The governor also said that testing is down statewide possibly because of the closure of some temporary testing sites created in July that targeted various coronavirus hotspots.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Coronavirus testing in Texas plummets as schools prepare to reopen
Texas’ low number of tests and large percentage of positive results suggest inadequacies in the state’s public health surveillance effort at a time when school reopenings are certain to increase viral spread, health experts said.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Why Texas’ coronavirus data comes with caveats
It’s hard to collect good numbers on an unknown virus, and Texas health officials have made errors. But experts say the state’s coronavirus data is useful as long as users understand its limitations.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas’ count of coronavirus deaths jumps 8% after officials change the way they tally COVID-19 fatalities
Hispanic Texans are overrepresented in the state’s updated fatality count, making up 48% of deaths, but only 40% of the state’s population.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Mask mandate appears to be helping in Texas, but experts ask Gov. Greg Abbott not to rule out a shutdown
A plateauing of new virus cases would hardly represent a victory over the pandemic, but it would help keep hospitals from being overrun with sick patients.