Texas officials walk back $15 million proposed cuts to women’s and children's health services
The changes to the budget proposal come after lawmakers and advocates protested the previous plan would hurt vulnerable Texans. Full Story
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![A women’s health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
“It’s like walking into a ghost town”: Under tight pandemic restrictions, college football returns to Austin
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
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![Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium roughly 20 minutes before kickoff on Sept. 12, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
The percentage of Texans testing positive for COVID-19 is dropping, but experts say the threat isn't over
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
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![A health care worker speaks to a patient at a drive-thru testing site at Exceptional Medical Plaza in Garland on June 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn suggests Trump could've struck a better balance in discussing early coronavirus threat
Cornyn's comments Thursday came in response to the recent revelation that the president intentionally downplayed the severity of the pandemic. Full Story
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![U.S. Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaking at a press conference announcing the introduction of a Republican police reform bill.]()
Credit: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Texas physicians are losing money during the pandemic. They want lawmakers to make health insurers pay up.
The Texas Academy of Family Physicians is also asking legislators to expand Medicaid insurance coverage to low-income adults and restore funding for a program that studied racial health disparities. Full Story
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![A doctor cares for a patient at MedSpring Urgent Care clinic on South Lamar Boulevard and Barton Springs Road in Austin.]()
Credit: Martin do Nascimento for The Texas Tribune -
Texans with developmental disabilities in state homes still don’t have visitors. Their parents worry they don’t know why.
Across Texas, families with loved ones in state supported living centers are desperate for in-person visits after months have ticked by with coronavirus restrictions in place. Full Story
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![Stephanie Kirby holds a photo of her son, Petre Kirby, outside of the Denton State Supported Living Center, where her son is a resident. Stephanie hasn't seen her son since March due to COVID-19.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas universities blame off-campus parties for rising COVID-19 cases, but few are disciplining students
Schools, desperate to keep their doors open but worried about health risks to their students, are being put in the uncomfortable position of having to govern young adult behavior that is mostly happening off university property. Full Story
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![Students wait in line to enter the Peter T. Flawn Academic Center at the University of Texas at Austin on Aug. 24, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding for The Texas Tribune -
Student athletes get COVID-19 tests three times a week, while experts say testing for other university students is lagging
Public health experts say colleges need to dramatically ramp up testing in order to catch “silent spread” fueled by students who are infected but don’t have symptoms. Full Story
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![A nurse demonstrates to a student how to self-administer a COVID-19 test a at a testing location at the University of Texas at Austin. Sept. 4, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
“It’s pretty hard to learn how to draw an IV online”: This nursing student is grateful for hands-on training this semester
In the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, listen to why a University of Texas at Austin sophomore says attending in-person labs during the pandemic is worth the risk. Full Story
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![Mary Grace Scales, a second-year nursing student at The University of Texas at Austin, captured her first day back on campus in August.]()
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An Austin doctor got a COVID-19 test from his own company. They billed his insurance company nearly $11,000
Physicians Premier ER charged Dr. Zachary Sussman's insurance $10,984 for his COVID-19 antibody test even though Sussman worked for the chain and knows the testing materials only cost about $8. Even more surprising: The insurer paid in full. Full Story
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![Physicians Premier Emergency Room in Austin on Aug. 31, 2020.]()
Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune -
A week after hurricane evacuation, nursing home residents with COVID-19 are still waiting to return to East Texas
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. Full Story
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![Tanya Stephenson in Port Arthur on Sept. 3, 2020.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![Social distancing markers at the LBJ Student Center at Texas State University in San Marcos on August 24, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
"We're all holding our breath": Health experts on school reopenings in Texas
The Texas Tribune spoke to experts about what the state can expect as schools and universities start school remotely or in person. Full Story
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![Desks are zip-tied and a green "Use" sticker is placed on available desks to practice social distancing in an academic hall at the University of Texas at Austin on Aug. 24, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding for The Texas Tribune -
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. 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 -
Five health experts on the state’s coronavirus data backlog
The state disclosed a backlog of more than 850,000 tests this month, which were delayed in part because of coding or formatting errors and a lengthy onboarding process needed to receive reports from laboratories. Full Story
![A health care worker speaks to a patient at a drive-thru testing site at Exceptional Medical Plaza in Garland on June 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
In Texas, the lowest-income workers don’t qualify for additional unemployment aid
Nearly 350,000 Texans don't qualify for the extra payment because they either earned too little from the work they lost or didn't indicate on paperwork that they lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Full Story
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![Cars line up for a drive-thru food distribution hosted by the Central Texas Food Bank at the Travis County Expo Center on June 30, 2020 in Austin.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Those aren’t just COVID-19 numbers. They’re Texans.
There are 347,700 Texans losing federal supplements to unemployment insurance. And 716,000 students getting laptops and tablets for virtual school. And 11,395 COVID-19 deaths. Each statistic has a human face. Full Story
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![Elizabeth McNiel, the owner of Ironwood Saloon and an ASL teacher, and her husband Ryan in their empty bar in Sabinal, the only one in town. They shut it down because of COVID-19 mandates. Aug. 13, 2020.]()
Credit: Christopher Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Texas State University welcomed students back in person Monday. Campus was a ghost town.
Monday was the first day of in-person instruction at the San Marcos campus since the coronavirus pandemic raged across Texas, forcing school officials to reinvent the college experience in an attempt to keep students safe. Full Story
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![Students walk through an area known as “The Quad” on the first day of the fall semester at Texas State University in San Marcos on Aug. 24, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
EPA approves coronavirus cleanser for emergency use in Texas
Texas said it would allow American Airlines and two branches of a sports clinic to start using the new product. Full Story
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![American Airlines jets fill Terminal A at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in April of 2019.]()
Credit: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren for USA TODAY via REUTERS -
Nearly 350,000 unemployed Texans don't qualify for extra $300 weekly benefit
Texans receiving less than $100 in weekly unemployment benefits do not qualify for the extra $300 weekly payments the Trump administration is distributing to Texas and other states. Full Story
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![Threadgill’s restaurant is closing permanently due to the coronavirus pandemic.]()
Credit: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via REUTERS