Coronavirus Update: April 17, 2020

By The Numbers:
Statistics are current as of April 17, 3:30pm CT

• In Texas, 169,536 people have been tested, resulting in 17,371 cases and 428 deaths, as reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services. An estimated 4,190 coronavirus patients in Texas have successfully recovered.
• Tarrant County has at least 1,093 confirmed cases; Parker County has 20 confirmed cases; and Wise County has 8.
• In the United States, there are at least 661,712 cases and 33,049 deaths, as reported by the CDC.
• 216,703 cases are in the New York City area - the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

Need to Know:

• Temporarily halting funding to the World Health Organization: This week, President Trump announced that he is suspending U.S. funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) for 60 days while his Administration investigates its role in the coronavirus outbreak and signs that it allowed China to downplay the outbreak’s scale—which only hurt our country’s ability to respond to the virus once it reached our shores. I have always advocated for transparency in international organizations such as the WHO and been vocal on the threat China poses to our country and way of life. Any organization receiving American taxpayer dollars must be held accountable for its actions.
• A voice for our small businesses—and the millions of Americans they employ: Congress’ third coronavirus relief package, the “CARES Act”, set aside $349 billion to create the Paycheck Protection Program to provide forgivable loans to help small businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic. In less than two weeks, the program became a vital lifeline for our small businesses and has kept an estimated 15 million Americans on payroll—but the program has now run out of funds. The high demand we have seen underscores how important it is for Congress to come together and provide more funding. I will continue to keep you updated as my colleagues in Congress and I work to secure more support for our small businesses and the hardworking Americans that are counting on us.
• For now, I encourage Texas 12 small businesses in need to explore other options to secure funding, like this new loan initiative from the City of Fort Worth.
• Resources for our veterans: The Department of Veterans Affairs is acting on President Trump's directive to temporarily suspend or extend VA debt collection to help our veterans during the coronavirus. If you have new VA debt, the VA is temporarily stopping debt payment collections—you don’t have to act. If you have existing VA debt, you can request a collection suspension or extended repayment plan by calling 1-800-827-0648.