This was one of three papers that was submitted to Dr. Dean’s Spring 2020 Digital Design and Editing class. We were split into groups and tasked with writing, editing, and designing graphics for this project. I was the writer for this story. Miranda Day did the graphics for this story.
With over 50,000 deaths globally, it was only a matter of time before the COVID-19’s effects would be felt in North Texas.
There was only 2 months between the first CDC confirmed case in the US and the first death related to COVID-19 in Texas, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has extended his executive order through April 30, encouraging Texas residents to stay home unless they are involved with essential work or purchasing groceries, according to Julie Moreno with San Antonio’s KSAT news.
“The peak of Coronavirus cases in Texas may be toward the end of April,” the Governor told KSAT news on April 2. “The cases in the US are expected to peak in two weeks and cases in Texas could peak 10 days after that.”
The delay in Texas’ peak is because the virus’ spread started later in Texas than in other places, according to Abbott.
Abbott’s response to the virus has been criticized by some, who say that the governor’s actions to curb the hazards of COVID-19 has not been aggressive enough, according to a wallethub.com article which placed Texas 37th in prevention and containment.
Gov. Abbott’s containment plan had closed all schools, bars, gyms and dining in services across Texas starting at midnight on March 31, almost two and half weeks after he issued a disaster proclamation for the entire state, according to a press release by his office.
Gov. Abbott instead opted for local leaders to make the call as to whether they wanted to impose a lockdown on their communities
“What may be right for places like the large urban areas may not be right at this time for more than two hundred counties that have zero cases of COVID-19,” Abbott said, in a Texas Monthly article.
Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, and Harris counties have already announced their own shelter in place orders, according to the New York Times.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley downplayed the situation, calling the illness, “not a deadly disease,” in a March 18 television interview, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Judge Whitley later said that his intent was to not cause panic in the wake of the 2014 Ebola cases in North Texas.
“When you start referring to this as the deadly disease, people immediately go back to the disease we had a couple years ago,” Whitley said. “Which meant that when somebody got it, it was better than 50% chance they might pass away.”
The economic impact of COVID-19 in the global market have finance analysts predicting a global recession, according to a March 23 KDVR article.
“The stock market is truly on track for a horrible quarter,” said University of Denver Associate professor of Finance Chris Hughen.
Denver University finance professor Mac Clouse predicts an even more dire financial outlook.
“This may be serious enough – and extended long enough – that it’ll be a depression rather than a recession.”
Waco financial analyst firm, The Perryman Group predicts a similar grim future for the U.S. economy.
“Not only is the U.S. expected to lose a significant amount of money, 11 million jobs may also be lost,” said CEO Dr. M. Ray Perryman.
“We need to keep the structure of the economy in place,” Perryman said. “So once we get through this, we can recover in a reasonable way.”
Austin music festival and conference, South by Southwest was one of the first major event cancellations in Texas, announced on March 6.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared a, “local disaster” thereby cancelling the 10-day festival, which was scheduled to run March 13-22.
According to thehill.com, 2019’s SXSW festival generated $355.9 million and brought 73,716 people to the Texas capitol.
This year’s announcement is the first time in the festival’s 34-year history that it has been cancelled.
“This situation evolved rapidly, and we honor and respect the City of Austin’s decision. We are committed to do our part to help protect our staff, attendees, and fellow Austinites,” the festival organizers said in an official statement on March 6.
The thousands of independent bands that had planned on travelling to Austin without any major label backing are also reeling from the cancellation. London rock trio, False Heads had borrowed and invested their own money to afford the trip, hoping to book an American tour and establish an American fanbase around the festival appearance.
“It’s going to be very very difficult for a lot of bands to come back from this,” singer and guitarist Luke Griffiths said in an NME article. “If it happens, I hope we can ride that wave.”
Thomas T. Moore 