Tarrant County Public Health has issued a measles exposure health alert after an infected person visited two Grapevine attractions late last month, officials say.
A statement TCPH released Friday said an individual stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge between March 28-30 and was in the hotel and indoor water park area. They also visited the Grapevine Mills Mall on March 29 and were walking around the mall or eating at the food court. The timings for the mall visit was unclear.
The statement provided information about the risk to the public.
“Measles is a very contagious disease passed from a person to other people through the
air and by contaminated surfaces they may have touched. Measles can remain live in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has left the area.”
Texas Department of State Health Services post updates on Tuesdays and Fridays, as of April 4 they have reported 481 cases of measles with 56 hospitalizations with one death related to the current Texas. The departments update said the Counties with active measles transmission are in the South Plains region of Texas, including Dawson, Gaines, Lynn, Martin, Terry, and Yoakum Counties.
At the April 3 Tarrant County Commissioners meeting, County Administrator Chandler Merritt announced that 63 of 350 employees were impacted by cuts to four federal grants. Those employees have been furloughed and there has been a pause to nearly $15.3 million in outstanding grants.
“We’re trying to make sure that if there are other opportunities within the county of which they may be the best-qualified applicant, we’re trying to make sure they’re aware of those opportunities if they’re out there,” Merritt said.
The three grants affected are the Immunization cooperative agreements, epidemiology laboratory capacity, COVID-19 disparities and the Refugee clinic. The county’s mobile vaccine unit was shut down as a result. The unit was previously identified as a mitigation resource to combat measles. At-risk locations were able to request the unit come to their area.
“Folks that would have been vaccinated via our mobile clinics. We will have some extra room for them in our brick and mortar,” said TCPH Director Brian Byrd.
