Texas’ COVID-19 cases are down from record highs, though health experts warn the pandemic is far from over
While vaccinations are reaching more people every day, health care experts warn that this doesn’t mean Texas is out of the woods. Full Story
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![A nurse conducts a swab test for COVID-19 on a patient in a drive-thru station at the Austin Emergency Center at Mueller on Jan. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Congressional Democrats urge Gov. Greg Abbott to let Planned Parenthood stay on Medicaid
Their plea comes just days after a state district judge temporarily stopped the state from excluding Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, a government health insurance program for the poor. A hearing is scheduled for later this month. Full Story
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![Information and diagrams inside a medical room at a Planned Parenthood in south Austin on Jan. 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
COVID-19 testing has become a “cash cow” for freestanding ERs in Texas, experts say. And it’s getting out of control.
Freestanding emergency rooms in Texas have been charging patients’ health insurance plans thousands of dollars for a single coronavirus test. Full Story
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![The Austin Emergency Center at South Lamar and Ben White in Austin on May 09, 2017.]()
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Texas cities face difficulties counting their unsheltered homeless population — at a time when their numbers matter most
Despite changes to the regular count of people experiencing homelessness, support organizations are hoping they’ll still be able to capture a clear picture of who is unhoused in Texas as the pandemic continues. Full Story
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![Nicole Aurit sits by her tent under a highway overpass in downtown Austin on Jan. 15, 2021. Aurit had been working as a manager at a Supercuts before her job shut down due to COVID-19.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Nearly a year into the pandemic, grocery workers in Texas are more fatigued than ever as they await vaccine access
After the Department of State Health Services neglected to include front-line essential workers in the latest phase of the vaccine rollout, grocery store workers juggle stressful work while waiting for the vaccine. Full Story
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![After two confirmed cases of COVID-19 cased in the Austin area, a long line formed at the H-E-B grocery store at Hancock Center. Many residents waited in line for 30 to 45 minutes, as lines stretched to the rear of the store.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Laredo was one of the nation's worst COVID-19 hot spots for weeks. Its leaders see no easy way out.
At one point in January, almost half of the city’s hospital patients were admitted because of COVID-19 — the highest percentage in the state. That's caused intense debate about what the city can, and should, do next. Full Story
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![Healthcare worker Mary Carreon administers a COVID-19 vaccine to an elderly patient in Laredo. Feb. 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Jessica Nicole Rodriguez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas temporarily blocked from kicking Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid
A state district judge ruled Wednesday. That's the same day the state had given Planned Parenthood patients to find new doctors after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas officials who have long sought to block the health provider from participating in Medicaid. Full Story
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![The exterior of Planned Parenthood's Downtown Austin Health Center on Jan. 14, 2020. The location was being renovated at time of capture.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Point of Order: Dr. Peter Hotez discusses the state of COVID-19 in Texas
In the latest episode of our podcast about the Texas Legislature, Evan Smith talks with Dr. Peter Hotez, a virologist at Baylor College of Medicine, about mask mandates, vaccine availability, reopening schools and businesses, and the trajectory of the pandemic. Full Story
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Republican lawmakers push to make Texas’ anti-abortion laws among the most restrictive in the nation
With the GOP in control of state government and “a favorable backstop from the courts, it’s going to be a no-holds-barred approach for Republicans on abortion,” one political science professor said. Full Story
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![Protesters demonstrate against abortion at the Texas Rally for Life on Jan. 23, 2021, at the state Capitol in Austin.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Progress in the fight against the coronavirus is coming, but Texas is a long way from herd immunity
Medical experts say the state will struggle to immunize enough Texans to halt the chain of transmission through vaccination. But they hope to soon see evidence that vaccination efforts are helping to take pressure off the health care system. Full Story
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![Long lines formed in Fair Park, where Dallas County opened its first mega vaccination site.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Volunteers stepping up in hard-hit Laredo to administer COVID-19 vaccine
The virus has overwhelmed hospitals in the border town. One medical worker says the COVID-19 vaccine is giving people hope. Listen to her story in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast. Full Story
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![The city of Laredo.]()
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In search of COVID-19 vaccines, some rural Texans are driving hundreds of miles across the state
As the state continues struggling with an uneven vaccine rollout, some Texans in far-flung areas are traversing the state to get immunized. Full Story
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![Dallas County's COVID-19 vaccination site at Fair Park administered the Moderna vaccine to approved individuals. Jan. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
"We do a lot of work": Texas' low-wage workers hope for more as Biden, Congress push minimum wage hike
The minimum wage in Texas pays $7.25 an hour, well below a livable wage and far lower than the minimum hourly pay in most states. Full Story
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![Monique Warren works as a baggage handler at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Warren earns $9/hour, and is a supporter of President Biden's proposals to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Jan. 28, 2021.]()
Credit: May-Ying Lam for The Texas Tribune -
What do new variants of the coronavirus mean for Texans? And how can we best protect ourselves?
Viruses constantly change by mutating, and the coronavirus is no exception. But health experts say it's difficult to know the exact number of variants currently around the world. Full Story
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![A nurse conducts a swab test for COVID-19 on a patient in a drive-thru station at the Austin Emergency Center at Mueller on Jan. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas National Guard teams will vaccinate residents for COVID-19 in five rural counties, Gov. Greg Abbott announces
National Guard teams will visit DeWitt, Marion, Real, Sherman and Starr counties as part of a newly created State Mobile Vaccine Pilot Program. Full Story
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![Soldiers with the Texas National Guard work at a drive-through COVID-19 testing center in Smithville on May 5, 2020.]()
Credit: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via USA TODAY NETWORK -
Watch: How Texas lawmakers are conducting a session during a pandemic
The 2021 Texas legislative session will be unlike any other, as lawmakers work to get the people’s business done in the midst of a pandemic that shows few signs of slowing. Full Story
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![A temporary tent outside the north entrance to the Texas State Capitol offers complimentary rapid COVID-19 testing for all who may enter the building. Testing is not mandatory. Jan 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texans receiving federal food assistance could soon get more aid under Joe Biden's executive order
To combat food insecurity during the pandemic, the new president is increasing assistance for families receiving help to make up for free and reduced-cost school lunches. He also wants to increase food stamp benefits. Full Story
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![Third-grade lunch on the first day of in-person classes at Highland Village Elementary on Sept. 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
After 91 years, coronavirus brings a Texas rancher’s last sunset
Raymond Reeves, a storybook Texas farmer and rancher, died of COVID-19 complications in November, one of Texas’ more than 34,000 deaths. Full Story
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In win for Planned Parenthood, U.S. Supreme Court wipes case law supporting Texas pandemic abortion ban from the books
The high court vacated two rulings from the lower U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with Texas GOP officials arguing that Gov. Greg Abbott’s March 2020 executive order prohibited abortion under all but a few narrow circumstances in an attempt to preserve medical resources for COVID-19 patients. Full Story
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![One of the six exam rooms at Haven Health Clinics in downtown Amarillo on Dec. 9, 2013. The clinic provides services for women and some men in the 26 county region of the Texas panhandle.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
How to connect with your Texas lawmakers during the pandemic
While COVID-19 guidelines will vary between lawmakers’ offices, communication between legislators and the public will largely consist of phone and video calls or small, in-person meetings by appointment. Full Story
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![The state Capitol on Jan. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune