They were not statistics. They were fathers, mothers, siblings, neighbors and friends.

In most cases, their loved ones couldn't gather and mourn together.

One year ago, the first Texan was killed by COVID-19. 45,000 deaths followed — and it’s not over. bit.ly/3rVxTE8
2/ The weight of those deaths fell unevenly across the state.

The people who died were disproportionately Hispanic, and border towns with heavily Hispanic populations were among the hardest hit in the nation over the course of the year. bit.ly/3bPjXWt
3/ One out of five were nursing home residents.

And the virus mostly killed people 60 years or older in a state where the median age is 35. bit.ly/3cAt2Bt
4/ A Matagorda County man in his late 90s was the first Texan to die with a confirmed case of coronavirus.

On March 16, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered shutdowns that would begin on March 20. On March 16, 2020, Gov. Gre...
5/ There should have been hundreds of mourners around Phillip Perry’s grave.

But after losing their beloved principal to COVID-19 complications, the G.W. Carver Middle School community was forced to grieve apart. bit.ly/3rO1IWU On March 31, 2020, Phillip ...
6/ A workforce of immigrants has long powered the massive JBS meatpacking plant in Cactus.

Those workers had little power to avoid the coronavirus. bit.ly/3vskNjx Week of April 27: In the Te...
7/ Adolfo Alvarado Jr. worked as a hospice chaplain in South Texas, visiting families from Roma to Brownsville, comforting the living and praying with the dying. His family says he was always showing up for other people.

Then the virus came for him. bit.ly/3qSEopI July 25, 2020: South Texas ...
8/ Holidays were difficult.

“I dread the things that will come up for me and the amount of effort it's going to take to rise above the grief and fear and anger about this happening to our country and the world," said Chris Mabe, who lost her mom. bit.ly/2Q6RmUf
9/ The week of Feb. 8, Texas recorded the 40,000th person to die due to the coronavirus. It had reported 20,000 deaths just three months prior. Feb. 8, 2021: Just three mo...
10/ On March 2, Abbott announced he was rescinding his statewide mask mandate and capacity limits on businesses.

For some Texans who lost loved ones to the virus, the move was a "slap in the face." bit.ly/3vquizV
11/11 Our timeline tracks COVID-19’s rampage through Texas so far: the growing death toll, the policy decisions made in response to the pandemic and the stories of some of the Texans claimed by the virus.

The pressed flowers represent lives lost. bit.ly/3rVxTE8

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More from @TexasTribune

14 Mar
Some recommendations for your Sunday listening ⬇️

For the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, @viaAlana spoke to Houston resident Deqing Yang, who is working to support his community as racist attacks on Asian Americans rise across the country. bit.ly/30HjgIr
.@TexasStandard marked the year anniversary of the pandemic by exploring the effect of the coronavirus on the state through the voices of those who have lived it, and those we have lost.
.@nytimes has an audio documentary series about Odessa High School reopening during the pandemic — and the teachers, students and nurses affected in the process. nyti.ms/3sxWs9S
Read 4 tweets
13 Mar
1/ Gov. Greg Abbott lifted Texas' mask mandate, but health experts say you should still wear masks for protection as more contagious variants of the coronavirus circulate in the U.S.

A thread of some reminders on how to best protect yourself and others: bit.ly/3ldL5Bu
2/ Last month, @CDCgov released new research that found the effectiveness of cloth and medical masks can be improved by making sure they are well fitted to the contours of the face. This prevents air from leaking around the edges. wired.com/story/how-to-d…
3/ The CDC says this can be done several different ways, including double masking. Wear a cloth mask with multiple layers of fabric or wear a disposable medical mask underneath a cloth mask:
cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
Read 10 tweets
12 Mar
1/ The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package extends unemployment benefits for Texans through Sept. 6.

Everyone eligible for unemployment benefits will also receive an extra $300 per week. texastribune.org/2020/12/04/tex…
2/ People earning more than $5,000 a year from self-employment and working on the side for an employer may receive lower state unemployment benefits.

Those workers may receive an additional $100 per week if Texas participates in this program. texastribune.org/2020/12/04/tex…
3/ Texans who received $10,000 in unemployment benefits during the pandemic should receive a tax break.

But it's unclear if people who have or have not filed their taxes will benefit from the tax break if they qualify for it. texastribune.org/2020/12/04/tex…
Read 4 tweets
10 Mar
The U.S. House passed a massive spending bill that will send direct payments to millions of Texans and billions of dollars in aid for state and local governments and schools.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the measure on Friday. bit.ly/2OdhDjc
The bill's scope is sweeping.

Broadly speaking, it will distribute stimulus checks as large $1,400 to millions of Americans, another $350 billion to cities and states that experienced a decline in tax revenue and increase in expenses and $130 billion toward education.
The bill also funds an additional $300 in unemployment payments per week until early September. bit.ly/2OdhDjc
Read 4 tweets
9 Mar
A report released Tuesday by a University of Texas at Austin committee found that the controversial alma mater, “The Eyes of Texas” debuted at a minstrel show where students likely wore blackface. bit.ly/30uHHZz
The report said that William Prather, the university president who coined the phrase at the turn of the 20th century, said he took it from stories he heard and read about Confederate leaders who used a similar phrase to urge troops on during the Civil War. bit.ly/3cdQUuO
But the 24-member committee could not find primary documents that specifically tied the phrase to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, despite it long being believed that Lee was part of the song’s origin story. bit.ly/30uHHZz
Read 6 tweets
9 Mar
.@utaustin released the findings of a report — months in the making — exploring the history of its alma mater song, "The Eyes of Texas."

Read it here: bit.ly/3cdQUuO
The song — played to the tune of "I’ve been working on the railroad" — was historically performed at campus minstrel shows, and the title is linked to a saying from Confederate Army Commander Robert E. Lee.
Emails we obtained show that hundreds of alumni and donors demanded that the school stand up to "cancel culture" and firmly get behind the song as students protested against it— or else donors were going to walk away. bit.ly/3bskLjM
Read 4 tweets

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