Houston coronavirus updates: July 29
Local // Houston
Hannah Dellinger and Julian Gill July 29, 2020 Updated: July 29, 2020 8:47 p.m.
1of37Perline Lockett, 86, gets her COVID-19 shot by nurse practitioner Jill Atmar on the concourse of Minute Maid Park on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. The mega-distribution site administered 5000 COVID vaccines on Saturday.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
2of37People line up on the concourse of Minute Maid Park to get their COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. Houston's mega vaccination site at administered 5000 COVID vaccines on Saturday.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
3of37People wait in the stands at Minute Maid Park for COVID-19 vaccinations at Minute Maid Park on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. The mega-distribution site administered 5000 COVID vaccines on Saturday.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
4of37Registered nurse Felicia Rodriguez measures vaccine doses before administering them on the concourse of Minute Maid Park on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. The mega-distribution site administered 5000 COVID vaccines on Saturday.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
5of37A "Bar Open" sign lights the way to a bar along Main Street on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in downtown Houston.Photo: Mark Mulligan, Staff photographer
6of37George Foreman gets his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine from Mary Young at UT Physicians Multispecialty – Victory clinic, in Houston, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. As vaccines for the coronavirus become available to Houston area residents over the age of 65 and those with underlying medical conditions, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and UT Physicians, the clinical practice of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, partnered with the boxing legend to help overcome reluctance among minorities to be vaccinated.Photo: Karen Warren, Staff Photographer
7of37George Foreman flexes his muscles after he received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine from Mary Young at UT Physicians Multispecialty – Victory clinic, in Houston, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. As vaccines for the coronavirus become available to Houston area residents over the age of 65 and those with underlying medical conditions, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and UT Physicians, the clinical practice of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, partnered with the boxing legend to help overcome reluctance among minorities to be vaccinated.Photo: Karen Warren, Staff Photographer
8of37Jeffeea Gullett, MD, an internal medicine physician at UT Physicians Multispecialty – Victory clinic shows off her VACCINE t-shirt after George Foreman received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine from Mary Young at UT Physicians Multispecialty – Victory clinic, in Houston, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. As vaccines for the coronavirus become available to Houston area residents over the age of 65 and those with underlying medical conditions, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and UT Physicians, the clinical practice of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, partnered with the boxing legend to help overcome reluctance among minorities to be vaccinated.Photo: Karen Warren, Staff Photographer
9of37Vehicles line up at NRG Park as they get their COVID-19 vaccine drive-through style in Houston on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff photographer
10of37Vehicles line up at NRG Park as they get their COVID-19 vaccine drive-through style in Houston on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff photographer
11of37People in their cars line up to receive Covid-19 vaccinations during a drive-thru vaccination site implemented by Memorial Hermann in the Yellow Lot at NRG Park on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021 in Houston. Memorial Hermann plans to vaccinate approximately 13,000 people who are 65 or older, based on the state's vaccination distribution Phase 1B guidelines. The four-day event is only available for those who are pre-registered to get the vaccine.Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff photographer
13of37Houston Fire Department paramedic Crystal Ortiz gives Robert Moore his COVID-19 vaccine Saturday at Minute Made Park.Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
14of37Some area residents wait in line to receive their COVID-19 vaccines Saturday at Minute Made Park. The ballpark is serving as a temporary mega vaccine site as the Bayou City Event Center is closed for an unrelated event.Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
15of37Dr. Timothy W. Sloan, Senior Pastor of The Luke Church, interviews infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) about the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Humble.Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
16of37Stephen Fowler, with Houston Solid Waste Management Department, gets his first dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Jan. 4, 2021, at City Hall in Houston.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
17of37Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner orders food Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, at Miller's Cafe in Houston.Photo: Jon Shapley/Staff photographer
18of37Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner gets his first dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, at City Hall in Houston.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
19of37Cars line up to make appointments for the Houston Health Dept., free COVID vaccine distribution at Bayou City Events Center in Houston on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
20of37Houston Fire Department Senior Captain Joshua Vogel, 43, poses for a photograph after getting a dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, at Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital in Houston. Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital started vaccinating Houston firefighters last week.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
21of37Registered nurse Wanda Parker prepares a dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for Houston Fire Department District 20 Chief Patrick Rocha Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, at Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital in Houston. Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital started vaccinating Houston firefighters last week.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
22of37Houston Fire Department District 20 Chief Patrick Rocha, 53, gets a dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine administered by registered nurse Wanda Parker Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, at Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital in Houston. Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital started vaccinating Houston firefighters last week.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
23of37Resident Roger Hoestenbach listens to screening questions before receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-manufactured COVID-19 vaccine from CVS pharmacist Peter Thuo on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, at Avanti Senior Living at Town Lake in Cypress, TX.Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
24of37A Moderna COVID-19 vaccination is prepared at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020 in Houston.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
25of37Reagan Spencer, 5, works with glitter during pre-kindergarten class at the Beehive Parent Child Center, 3756 University Blvd., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 in Houston. The cooperative is on the campus of West University Elementary School. Houston ISD is ending its partnership with several private early education organizations operating out of district campuses.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
26of37Stephanie Stephen, a nurse manager in the ICU at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, gets her COVID vaccine from Tonya Couch, and RN at the hospital on Dec. 23.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff photographer
27of37Houston Health Department Division Supervisor Thomas Johnson receives a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine administered by HHD Chief Nurse at Immunization Bureau Essi Havor Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, at a Harris Health clinic in Houston. The Houston Health Department received 3,000 doses today.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
28of37Best Elementary School kindergarten student Kamila Flores watches her teacher through a sneeze guard while raising her hand to participate during a math class, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, in Houston.Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
29of37Anais Saenz, 25, and John Garcia, 28, at Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. The two started dating in November.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
30of37A volunteer controls traffic waiting for the 42nd Annual Super Feast distribution of meals, toys and face masks Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020, at George R Brown Convention Center in Houston. This year's distribution was a drive-thru event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff photographer
31of37Robert Luckey, COVID ICU Nurse, receives a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 in Houston. Front line workers at Memorial Hermann were some of the first to receive the recently approved vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine was almost 95 percent effective at preventing patients from contracting COVID-19 and caused no major side effects in a trial of nearly 44,000 people.Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff photographer
32of37Edwin Martinez, a pharmacy inventory coordinator, opens a tray of the COVID-19 vaccine vials at Houston Methodist Hospital Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 in Houston. The hospital received their first shipment this morning and will begin administering the vaccine today.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
33of37Alain Madrano prepares to go inside a Covid patient's room to put in a line inside one of the ICU units that handles COVID patients, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, at the Jennie Sealy Hospital on the Galveston Campus of UTMB..Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
34of37Jennifer Harrison, senior director of clinical operations at the University of Texas Health Austin Dell Medical School, and Devin Kline, materials manager open the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to arrive at the hospital in Austin, Texas on Monday Dec.14, 2020. A growing chorus of education leaders and elected officials are calling on the state to give them priority to be vaccinated. (AP Photo/John L. Mone)Photo: John L. Mone, STF / Associated Press
35of37Kenny Bradshaw, master distiller and Vice President of operations at Railean Distillers, reaches into a refrigerator behind the bar Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 in San Leon. The distillery and its associated bar has had to cut way back on its business operations due to Covid-19 restrictions.Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff photographer
36of37Houston Food Bank volunteer Ali Fawaz sorts while packing a box of snacks Tuesday. The food bank saw lines get longer in November after a decrease in demand in late summer.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
37of37Follow along for the latest coronavirus news and updates from the Houston Chronicle regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on Houston and the rest of Texas.Photo: Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle's Live Updates blog documents the latest events in the coronavirus outbreak in the Houston area, the state of Texas and across the U.S. with a focus on health and economic impacts.
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Total coronavirus cases:
• 415,870 cases in Texas, including 6,376 deaths.
• 98,565 in the Houston region, including 1,570 deaths.
• More than 4.4 million in the U.S., including 150,260 deaths. Click here to see a U.S. map with state-by-state death tolls and the latest coronavirus case counts.
• More than 16.9 million in the world, with more than 664,000 deaths. More than 9.9 million people have recovered. You can view the worldwide totals here.
Resources on COVID-19 and Texas' reopening: Use our interactive page to track the spread of cases through Harris County and the rest of Texas. For a detailed look at our state, check out the Chronicle's Texas Coronavirus Map. To get regular updates on our coverage, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.
Latest updates from today:
8:30 p.m. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will require that masks be worn on the House floor after a Republican member of Congress tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Associated Press. The member, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, often shunned wearing masks and was known to vote without one, the AP reported.
7:45 p.m. Texas saw its second-highest spike in new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday with 327, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data.
The Texas Department of State Health Services earlier this week changed the way it reports deaths, opting to use death certificate data as opposed to counts from individual counties. This has resulted in some counties reporting different death stats than the state.
The Chronicle analysis, which relies partially on county data, found the 327 new deaths for a total of 6,376 statewide.
The statewide case total jumped from 406,746 to 415,870, an increase of 9,124 cases. The state's seven-day rolling average for new cases is now at 7,667.1, decreasing again after Tuesday's small bump.
The Houston region's case count is 98,565, up 1,979 from Tuesday. Harris County added 1,466 new cases Wednesday, and is now at 69,126 cases total. There have been 1,570 deaths in the Houston region, up 80 since Tuesday.
The positive test rate statewide dropped from 12.83 percent to 12.55 percent.
Statewide, there were 9,595 patients hospitalized for lab-confirmed COVID-19. There are 59,086 total staffed hospital beds with 12,201 beds available, including 1,362 ICU beds. There are 6,035 ventilators available.
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7:15 p.m. The NFL is determined to conduct an uninterrupted season during the coronavirus pandemic, which already has forced the NBA to compete in a bubble and Major League Baseball to cancel several games after an outbreak on the Miami Marlins just days after after the league's restart, reports Aaron Wilson.
The NFL has had 51 players placed on reserve COVID-19 lists over the past four days, meaning they have either tested positive or were in close contact with someone who has tested positive. Plus, 27 players have opted out of the season either voluntarily or because they or family were deemed to be of high risk.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to fans that the league intends to start on time and play a complete season finishing with Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Fla.
4:30 p.m. As the world races to find a vaccine and a treatment for COVID-19, there is seemingly no antidote in sight for the burgeoning outbreak of coronavirus conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths and sham cures, reports the Associated Press.
The phenomenon, unfolding largely on social media, escalated this week when President Donald Trump retweeted a false video about an anti-malaria drug being a cure for the virus and it was revealed that Russian intelligence is spreading disinformation about the crisis through English-language websites.
Experts worry the torrent of bad information is dangerously undermining efforts to slow the virus, whose death toll in the U.S. hit 150,000 Wednesday, by far the highest in the world, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Over a half-million people have died in the rest of the world.
2:35 p.m. Total SE announced an $8.1 billion writedown after the push to curb carbon emissions and the coronavirus pandemic challenged assumptions about the long-term viability of some oil and gas assets, reports James Herron of Bloomberg News.
The bulk of the impairment -- about $7 billion -- applies to Canadian oil sands, which are costlier and more carbon intensive than conventional fields. Total will not approve any capacity increase on projects of this type and will withdraw from Canada's oil industry lobby group.
The French energy giant is following its peers BP and Shell, which already warned that they could write down almost $40 billion between them in the second quarter. The size of the impairments shows how the global health crisis, combined with the push to slow climate change, is shaking the industry's foundations.
2:05 p.m. It can only take one small social gathering to lose someone to COVID-19.
Members of families who have experienced this loss share their stories with ShaCamree Gowdy.
For Father's Day, the Del Toros wanted to show Oscar Del Toro Sr. that they loved and appreciated him, according to ABC13's Miya Shay. The entire family, with the exception of one of Oscar's sons, gathered for dinner at a Houston restaurant. A few days later, a total of seven of them had gotten sick from doing so.
It started with one sister getting sick. Then another. Then a sister-in-law. Soon after, the patriarch of the Del Toro family was suffering from COVID-19, too.
"They came to the doctor [and] the doctor said, 'You need to take your dad to the hospital. Your dad has coronavirus,'" Oscar Del Toro Jr., who skipped the dinner out of love and care for his family, recalled. "From there, you can not talk to him. Basically, you take him away from the family."
Del Toro, Sr. passed away on July 16, and his son is now speaking on to shed some light on the way the virus is hitting the Hispanic community.
1:40 p.m. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Education Commissioner Mike Morath threw a wrench in school reopening plans Tuesday, issuing new guidance that left many education leaders and community members confused about when campuses can restart in-person classes.
Reporter Jacob Carpenter explains here what Tuesday's guidance means, which laws and orders remain in place, and why somebody — such as Gov. Greg Abbott, local health authorities, school districts or parents — needs to take the first steps toward a definitive resolution.
12:55 p.m. The Houston-based doctor behind a viral video on the controversial hydroxychloroquine drug — which was then shared by President Donald Trump — was sued in January for medical malpractice in which a woman died after being in her care, according to Louisiana court records.
The lawsuit takes aim at Stella Grace Immanuel, a licensed medical practitioner and preacher whose contentious promotion of the anti-viral drug for COVID-19 treatment has received national notoriety. She holds licenses in Texas and Louisiana, where she and another doctor treated a woman in 2019 after she complained of a broken needle in her arm.The woman, identified in the suit as Leslie Norvell, explained to them at the Sabine Medical Center in Many that she had been doing an illegal drug and that a piece of the needle broke off in her arm.
Immanuel and the second doctor prescribed her an unspecified medication but did not order a closer look at her arm through an X-ray or other medical tests, the suit states. Norvell went home and, because of the pain, sought help hours later from a hospital in Shreveport, where a surgeon removed the needle. Six days later, Norvell died.
-Reporters Nicole Hensley and Brooke A. Lewis
12:45 p.m. Since COVID-19 has come to Houston, there is hardly anyone in the city's downtown.
Dug Begley reports bar owner Scott Repass sees as a sign of the precarious future for downtown bars and an opportunity.
"Never let a crisis go to waste," said Repass, owner of the Little Dipper bar and champion of a plan to cut off cars from a few blocks of Main to open more outdoor space for selling food and drinks.
The proposal, which city officials, downtown businesses, Metropolitan Transit Authority and the local management district still are studying, would close vehicle lanes along Main but keep all cross-streets open. That way, the lanes could open to people walking and the brick sidewalks could fill with corrals and outdoor tables. Added outdoor space could offer just enough room so a few revelers return to what was a bustling corridor before COVID.
City plans for the closing could come in the next two weeks, said Houston District I Councilman Robert Gallegos, who represents downtown.
12:30 p.m. City council on Wednesday unanimously passed a $15 million program meant to help hundreds of Houston small businesses suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting economic downturn.
The city has contracted with Houston Business Development Inc., a community development financial institution, to administer the funds. The contract includes $1.5 million in administrative costs, which means $13.5 million will be available for grants of up to $50,000.
City officials and Houston Business Development said they hope the program will reach businesses that have not found capital or assistance elsewhere, such as the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
The money will not be disbursed on a first-come, first-served basis. Instead, applicants will be graded on a scoring matrix that accounts for factors including their number of employees, whether the business is in an under-served community and whether it would have a legitimate chance of survival with the grant.
-Reporter Dylan McGuinness
11:30 a.m. Shortly after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent out a guidance letter stating local health authorities cannot issue orders that close schools as a preventive measure to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Texas Education Agency reversed course and said it will not fund schools that are closed under local health orders.
The announcement is a direct reversal from the agency's previous guidance when it stated earlier this month it would fund school districts if local health officials closed campuses due to COVID-19, the Texas Tribune reported. Harris County public and non-religious private schools were ordered by local officials and health authorities last week to start the school year virtually for the first eight weeks of the year. Many of Houston's largest school districts have already announced plans to do so, including Houston ISD, Katy ISD and Fort Bend ISD.
Paxton's letter states school officials should be the ones to decide when and how to open their campuses, not local officials.
"Nothing in the law gives health authorities the power to indiscriminately close schools—public or private—as these local orders claim to do," Paxton said in the statement. "The decision to close schools on such a preventative basis— whether public or private—remains with school system leaders who should consult with relevant public health authorities, including the department and local health authorities"
-Reporter Rebecca Hennes
11:15 a.m. Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, who frequently walks around the U.S. Capitol without wearing a face mask or maintaining social distance from others, has tested positive for COVID-19, a person familiar with the result reportedly told the Washington Post.
Gohmert had been scheduled to travel with President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One to Texas on Wednesday but tested positive at the White House and did not join the trip, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
News of Gohmert's diagnosis was first reported by Politico.
10:40 a.m. While President Donald Trump heads to West Texas on Wednesday hoping to focus on the oil industry and fundraise for his re-election campaign, he's also touching down in a region hit hard by COVID-19, reports the Chronicle's Jeremy Wallace.
In visiting Midland and Ector counties, senior Trump administration officials Tuesday said their goal is to highlight how Trump's deregulatory actions have made the oil and natural gas industry dominant overseas — underscoring that Trump is "fighting for the American dream and the American worker."
Before the pandemic hit, U.S. oil production peaked at a record 13.1 million barrels per day in mid-March; exports peaked at nearly 4.4 million barrels a day.
But in going to those counties, Trump also is opening himself up to criticism from Democrats over how he has managed the pandemic. Since July 1, Midland and Ector counties have seen their combined death toll from COVID-19 grow from 26 to 54. And the number of reported coronavirus infections also has more than doubled, from 1,259 on July 1 to 3,264.
10:23 a.m. Two months after the Harris County Jail corralled a COVID-19 outbreak that sickened more than 1,000 inmates and killed two, Sheriff's Office officials said they face a new threat: arrestees who already have the virus when they are processed into the downtown facility.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said the increase in COVID-positive inmates is further reason to lower the jail population by releasing more inmates awaiting trial for nonviolent felony offenses. A district court judge in April blocked an attempt by Hidalgo to order some releases.
"Harris County has the fourth-largest COVID cluster in the country, meaning more COVID cases can be connected to our jail facility than almost anywhere else in the nation," Ellis said at Tuesday's Commissioners Court meeting. "Our sheriff has been working hard to keep people safe at the jail, but it's almost impossible to do it at a distance, and quarantine all the people."
-Reporter Zach Despart
10:07 a.m. Houston pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners made $1 billion in the second quarter despite an oil and natural gas industry downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Enterprise's performance marks eight consecutive quarters of the company hitting quarterly profits of $1 billion or higher but nonetheless represents a 15 percent drop from the $1.2 billion profit in the second quarter of 2019. Earnings per share of 47 cents also marked a 15 percent drop from the 54 cents one year prior.
The company's second quarter revenue of $5.8 billion was a 31 percent drop from the $8.3 billion reported the previous year. The company attributed the drop to lower production of its profitable propylene and octane businesses as the pandemic made access to raw materials used to make them more difficult and decreased demand.
Despite the $1 billion profit, Enterprise missed Wall Street expectations to make $7.5 billion of revenue and earnings per share of 48 cents.
-Reporter Sergio Chapa
9:45 a.m. Politifact on Wednesday ruled false the claims made in a video viewed by millions of people showing a group of doctors calling for the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.
The video shows a group of doctors at a press conference n Washington, D.C.
"We're here because we feel as though the American people have not heard from all the expertise that's out there all across our country," said Dr. Simone Gold, the founder of America's Frontline Doctors, in the video.
President Donald Trump retweeted clips from the summit before Twitter removed versions of the video. Facebook and YouTube have also worked to remove versions of the video from their sites, although several clips of the 40-plus-minute event were still circulating on Facebook.
The video included a Houston doctor, Stella Emmanuel, making the claim that people don't need to wear masks because there is a cure for the virus.
There is no cure and studies suggest that wearing masks greatly reduces the risk of spreading the virus.
9:15 a.m. More than 400 hospitality workers at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel will receive health care coverage through the end of September, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Tuesday, a day after the employees' union released a report that found the city's convention agency had ample funds to extend the expiring benefits.
Health insurance for the hotel employees was set to lapse at the end of July, according to a Turner spokeswoman. Many have failed to accumulate the hours needed to qualify for health benefits since being furloughed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued by Unite Here Local 23, secretary-treasurer Willy Gonzalez said the extension would cover 450 workers "during a critical moment in this global pandemic."
-Reporter Jasper Scherer
9 a.m. Russian intelligence officials are spreading disinformation about COVID-19 in an attempt to exploit a crisis that America is struggling to contain before the presidential election, Eric Tucker of the Associated Press reports.
Two Russians who have held senior roles in Moscow's military intelligence service have been identified as responsible for a disinformation effort meant to reach American and Western audiences, U.S. government officials said Tuesday, according to the report. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The officials said they were making the information public now to sound the alarm about three particular websites for publishing erroneous information about the pandemic and to expose what they say is a clear link between the sites and Russian intelligence.
The websites cited in the report are InfoRos.ru, Infobrics.org and OneWorld.press.
8:45 a.m. Oil edged higher as U.S. crude stockpiles were set to have fallen last week, while the dollar slid again.
Futures in New York rose 1.1%. U.S. inventories fell by 6.83 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute reported but said that gasoline supplies rose, according to people familiar with the data. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index fell 0.3%, heading for its lowest close since September 2018.
Investors are waiting for the conclusion of a Federal Reserve policy meeting on Wednesday, with the U.S. central bank expected to signal it will keep interest rates near zero for longer as the coronavirus continues to surge. Florida reported a record death toll, while a resurgence of cases across the Asia-Pacific is being viewed as an early warning sign for the rest of the world.
After rebounding swiftly from April lows, crude prices have struggled to find direction in recent weeks as the resurgent pandemic threatens the global energy demand recovery. Consultant Rystad Energy AS said it expects a second virus wave and additional barrels from the OPEC+ alliance to result in a global supply glut for the next four months.
-Reorters Low De Wei and Alex Longley, Bloomberg
8:15 a.m. With $200 million from the state and the same amount matched by Texas' school districts, an initiative plans to provide needy students with computers and internet service for online learning before the school year begins.
Dubbed Operation Connectivity, the plan aims to provide 1 million laptops, along with Apple iPads and 480,000 internet WiFi hotspots from all three of the major cellular providers, with the state handling the purchasing and local school districts sharing the costs.
The logistics were put together by the Region 4 Education Service Center, Mayor Sylvester Turner's office and Gabriella Rowe, the former director of the Ion, the centerpiece of the city's drive to build a robust technology and startup community.
-Reporter Dwight Silverman
8 a.m. Advocates warn that Mayor Sylvester Turner's refusal to put an eviction grace period ordinance on the city council agenda could leave Houstonians who can't make August rent without recourse, reports the Chronicle's Sarah Smith.
The potential grace period ordinance was drafted by the city-county Housing Stability Task Force, which includes the Houston Apartment Association and tenant advocates. The ordinance would give tenants faced with eviction due to economic impacts of the novel coronavirus more time to work with their landlords and pay off back rent. If passed, it would significantly slow Texas's speedy eviction process.
Through spokesperson Mary Benton, Turner said, "I am concerned that a moratorium does not remove the financial obligation and increases the hole people would have to dig themselves out from under." Benton said the mayor is focused on advocating for rent relief in the next congressional stimulus package and encouraged landlords and tenants to voluntarily develop their own grace periods for rent.
7:45 a.m. Texas saw its first uptick in new COVID-19 cases in the last five days Tuesday, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data.
The analysis found 11,408 new cases statewide — the second-highest case increase so far —bringing the overall total to 406,746. The state on Monday hit a five-day low for new cases, reporting 4,331.
The state's seven-day rolling average for new cases is now at 7,829.4, the first increase since July 19.
-Reporters Julian Gill and Jordan Rubio
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