Coronavirus in Texas

While restaurants are allowed to expand to 75% capacity, those in the bar industry worry prolonged shutdowns could lead to 30% of its businesses closing within six months. Full Story 

The Texas Supreme Court ordered that eviction citations will have to inform renters about the moratorium requirements and include the form needed to apply for protection. Full Story 

Cruz said that Barr has done an "admirable job" and that the Trump administration took "serious and ... extraordinary" steps to fight the pandemic. Full Story 

The U.S. Labor Department on Friday announced Texas' unemployment rate for August fell to 6.8%. That is still far above pre-pandemic levels, underscoring a summer of steady joblessness for many Texans. Full Story 

Disability rights activists say they’re worried the confusion may deter at-risk Texans from voting or cause them to needlessly put their health at risk to show up in person at the polls despite being eligible for mail-in voting. Full Story 

Leaving behind their focus on the spread of the coronavirus, Texas leaders now say hospitalizations will guide their decisions on how to regulate social distancing at businesses and cultural centers. Full Story 

Visitors previously were allowed only into long-term care facilities where there were no active cases of the virus among residents and no confirmed cases among staff members in the past two weeks. Full Story 

As 1.8 million Texans continue to claim unemployment, many complain they still can't reach the Texas Workforce Commission and are quickly losing trust in Congress to agree to a second stimulus agreement. Full Story 

Restaurants, retail stores and office buildings will now be able to operate at 75% capacity, Abbott said. Three regions — the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo and Victoria — were excluded from the loosening of restrictions, however. Full Story 

Budget cuts meant skimpier caches of protective equipment, and Texas' chronic shortage of public health workers has made the response more difficult, experts said. Full Story 

Public health experts say discrepancies in key metrics, such as the positivity rate, made it difficult for officials to make informed policy decisions. Full Story 

Cecile Richards, a Texas native, made the comment in an interview during The Texas Tribune Festival that aired Wednesday. Limits on abortion access earlier this year spurred legal battles. Full Story 

At UT-Rio Grande Valley, administrators spent a tense summer preparing for the fall semester while local coronavirus rates spiked, the area spiraled into further economic depression and debate raged across the nation about how to safely send college students back to school. Full Story 

The state's public health experts are changing their calculation of one of the governor's go-to measures of the spread of coronavirus. It's an improvement, but the new version has some bugs of its own. Full Story 

The Texas Department of State Health Services said it will now rely on a calculation that takes into account the date on which a coronavirus test was administered, rather than when it was reported. Full Story 

With just over 15,000 fans in a stadium that holds more than 100,000, the University of Texas kicked off the football season after requiring mandatory COVID-19 tests for students who attended the game. Full Story 

Jimmie Arnold's mother-in-law and mother were in the same nursing home in Bryan when Gov. Greg Abbott barred all visitation to limit the spread of the coronavirus. In the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, listen to why Arnold says after six months, it’s taking its toll. Full Story 

The University of Texas at Austin will face off against The University of Texas at El Paso on Saturday with thousands of fans in the stadium and new safety precautions. Full Story 

A bipartisan group of 88 state lawmakers said in a letter that a statewide broadband plan is well overdue. Full Story 

One key COVID-19 metric is trending downward, but experts worry that Labor Day gatherings and school reopenings could cause cases to spike again. Full Story