10 August 24 - 30, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents 21+ ONLY - RAIN OR SHINE www.TacolandiaDallas.com SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH Energy Square Plaza • 4-7PM TASTE THE BEST FROM DALLAS AND BEYOND www.TacolandiaDallas.com www.TacolandiaDallas.com UNLIMITED TACO SAMPLING EVENT SCAN HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS TODAY BENEFITING: BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Morning News. A police dog ultimately sniffed the bag and determined that it con- tained an odor consistent with ammunition or firearms. The student was then arrested. Plano ISD Trustees in Plano ISD approved a plan for a district school marshal program. The pro- gram will equip elementary campuses with armed officers in addition to “other educa- tion centers that don’t already have a school resource officer,” according to KERA. Plano ISD will fork over nearly $3 million of its own money to help bring in 55 new employees and will reportedly receive around $1 million toward that effort from the state. “I hope the other parents out there go to their state legislators and request that pro- grams like this get fully funded by the state because this is going to be done at a huge cost to our district so that we can do it the right way,” board member Tarrah Lantz said, according to KERA. Allen ISD To comply with HB 3, Allen ISD an- nounced that it will provide campuses with at least one armed guard by hiring a security company. L&P Global Security in Dallas will aid in supplying trained officers for 17 Allen ISD elementary campuses. Allen ISD’s secondary campuses were al- ready covered by school resource officers, according to FOX 4. The announcement comes just months after the mass shooting at an Allen outlet mall. District officials reportedly wanted to ease parents’ fears ahead of the school year given the proximity of the massacre. ▼ COVID RETURN OF THE VIRUS DALLAS COUNTY SEES RISE IN COVID-19 CASES. BY SIMONE CARTER F or many of us, the coronavirus crisis feels like a distant nightmare. Life in North Texas is largely back to normal, even if fewer folks are working from office buildings. So, we’re sorry to say that you might want to dig out your favorite lockdown-era mask: COVID-19 is on the rise again in Dallas County. Last week, Dallas County saw 626 new cases, and the previous week logged 494, Axios reported on Monday. Dr. Philip Huang, director of the county’s health department, described the tally of cases as having increased slightly but not significantly. The number of hospitaliza- tions has also remained relatively low. “We’re certainly not where we’ve been in the past,” he told the Observer. The coronavirus is spreading elsewhere in Texas. For the week ending Aug. 12, cases spiked by 24% compared with the previous week, according to the state’s health depart- ment. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the new coronavirus variant, EG.5, drove more than 17% of cases in the U.S. for the two-week period ending on Aug. 5. The World Health Organization recently declared that strain a “variant of in- terest.” Even though cases have increased locally, experts want people to know that the worst of the pandemic is indeed in the rearview mirror. On May 11, the federal COVID-19 public health emergency declaration ended. These days, the vast majority of Ameri- cans have developed COVID-19 antibodies. Around 97% of people older than 16 have either infection- or vaccine-induced anti- bodies, Huang said. Although antibodies don’t necessarily stop infection, they do help to stave off severe disease. Huang noted that a new coronavirus vac- cine is expected to arrive in the coming weeks. “Continue to be in ventilated areas,” Huang said. “It’s never a bad idea to wear a mask if you’re in a crowded setting and if you’ve been exposed, or stay home if you’re sick.” COVID-19 hits some people harder than others, such as those who are immunocom- promised, said Dr. Erin Carlson, clinical pro- fessor and director of graduate public health programs for the University of Texas at Ar- lington. The virus is now less virulent over- all, meaning that it doesn’t make people as sick as it did in its original iterations. Around 75% fewer COVID-19 cases have been reported in Texas this summer com- pared with last summer, she said. Overall, the situation is much more under control. Viruses tend to evolve to become more contagious but less dangerous, COVID-19 included. Still, Carlson urges those who think they may be sick to look out for their vulnerable neighbors. “Please be respectful and mindful of peo- ple who this would hit really hard, and do the things: Stay home if you can, wear a mask. Those kinds of things,” she said. What might seem like the minor inconvenience of wear- ing a mask “might save somebody who is im- munocompromised from being very, very ill.” Carlson encourages people to get the lat- est COVID-19 vaccine when it comes out, and to ask their healthcare provider if they’ll need a booster shot before then. As COVID-19 continues to mutate, it will remain a focal point for public health ex- perts, Carlson said. But there’s a chance that we may start to see other viruses appear on the horizon. “If you just look at the perfect storm that continues to rage, COVID was born of that perfect storm, and it’s still here,” she said. “It hasn’t changed.” World health authorities are indeed sounding the alarm that another, even deadlier pandemic could hit sometime in the future. Climate change has been cited as a factor in infectious disease outbreaks. As rains and flooding ramp up, and people and animals are forced into new habitats, it leads to the cre- ation of dangerous new viruses, Carlson said. Along with new viruses comes the risk of new diseases, and environmental changes may increase the likelihood of future epi- demics. One 2021 study found that the prob- ability of experiencing another coronavirus-like pandemic is around 38%, “which may double in the coming decades.” “It won’t be the last time that most of us see something like COVID in our lifetime,” Carlson said. “It just won’t.” Unfair Park from p8
