Emma Platoff
summer @TexasTribune, alum @yaledailynews @phillyinquirer & @hartfordcourant. tips and taco recs to [email protected]
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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.
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.
Across Texas and the nation, the novel coronavirus is deadlier for people of color
New data on Texas coronavirus fatalities reveals stark racial disparities.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was indicted 5 years ago. He still hasn't gone to trial.
Read our timeline covering delays and side battles in the long-running securities fraud case against Paxton.
Texas' count of coronavirus deaths jumps 12% after officials change the way they tally COVID-19 fatalities
Hispanic Texans are overrepresented in the state's updated fatality count, making up 47% of deaths, but only 40% of the state's population.
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Emma Platoff
With new counting method, we have lots more info about who's dying of COVID-19 in Texas.
Black Texans are at greater risk of dying—12% of population, 14% of COVID deaths.
White Texans are dying at lower rates: 41% of population, but 35% of deaths.
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With 4 in 5 Texans living in a "red zone," coronavirus hot spots are moving targets
Early hot spots have been eclipsed by new regions in crisis. Now that so much of Texas is battling major coronavirus outbreaks, some severely ill patients have to travel long distances to receive the care they need.
Texas hospitals are running out of drugs, beds, ventilators and even staff
Many Texas hospitals are no longer accepting transfer patients in order to maintain space for a surge that’s expected to come. In some parts of the state, it’s already here.
As coronavirus cases surged, Texas’ contact tracing workforce shrunk
State health officials say they have enough workers to meet current needs, but some local health departments are scrambling to keep up. With 2,800 workers, Texas is still short of the governor's goal to have 4,000 people contact tracing.
Gov. Greg Abbott keeps businesses open despite surging coronavirus cases and rising deaths in Texas
“We can protect Texans’ lives while also restoring their livelihoods,” Abbott said this week. As cases surge, the question has become: How many Texans’ lives?
Local leaders warn Texas is heading down a dangerous path as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge in big cities
When Gov. Greg Abbott let businesses start reopening, he pointed to two metrics as encouraging signs: the hospitalization rate and the infection rate, or the ratio of positive cases to tests conducted. Both of those metrics are on the rise in Texas.
Texas lawmakers want to add more LGTBQ safeguards after U.S. Supreme Court guarantees workplace protections
A new ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court makes clear that it violates federal law to fire an employee on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. Now Texas lawmakers want to guarantee similar protections for LGBTQ Texans in housing,...
Years after a judge ordered fixes, Texas’ child welfare system continues to expose children to harm, federal monitors say
Two independent experts appointed to scrutinize the system described “a disjointed and dangerous child protection system ... where harm to children is at times overlooked, ignored or forgotten.”
U.S. Supreme Court says civil rights law applies to LGBTQ workers, granting protections long denied in Texas
Texas has no laws on the books explicitly protecting people from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday now gives federal protections.
Outside of Texas' big cities, some are still waiting nearly a month for coronavirus test results from state-run mobile units
While many county leaders were grateful that Texas deployed coronavirus testing resources in their communities, others complained of a chaotic planning process and test results delayed for weeks.
Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann, husband test positive for coronavirus
AUSTIN — Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann said Thursday she has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the first high-ranking state...
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How a Dallas salon owner changed Texas' reopening debate
After Shelley Luther was jailed for opening her salon in blatant defiance of emergency orders, top Texas Republicans in all three branches of government scrambled to ensure her release.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warns Austin, San Antonio, Dallas to loosen coronavirus restrictions
Paxton's office said that there could be litigation if cities do not pull back coronavirus restrictions related to masks, sheltering in place and religious services.
Texas passes grim threshold, marking more than 1,000 COVID-19 fatalities
Texas seems to have fewer to mourn than some of the hardest-hit states. But experts say the official state death toll is likely an undercount.
In West Texas, volunteers manufacture medical supplies and amateur pilots deliver to remote hospitals
A volunteer air force of more than 1,000 amateur aviators has come together to transport essential medical supplies in a part of the state where the cities are far-flung and the roads are notoriously dangerous from oil-related traffic.
Is this rural community really Texas’ sickest county?
State data indicates that Donley County in the Panhandle has the highest coronavirus infection rate in Texas. But county Judge John Howard — also the only local doctor — believes that's because he's testing far more than other counties.