COVID-19 Cases In Dallas On The Rise, Two New Deaths

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Dallas County COVID-19 inpatient graph

Is Dallas County COVID-19 On An Upward Trend?

DALLAS — As of 3:00 pm September 30, 2020, Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting a total of 287 additional cases (249 confirmed + 38 probable) of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Of the 249 newly reported confirmed cases, 247 confirmed cases were from the month of September. The cumulative confirmed case count in Dallas County is 82,410 including 1,024 confirmed deaths. The cumulative probable case count in Dallas County is 4,090 including 13 probable deaths from COVID-19.

Of the 249 new reports of positive molecular COVID-19 tests, 164 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) system and only two were from previous months. Please see a provisional breakdown below of these newly reported cases by date of collection:

Month

# of positive patients

August

2

September

162

The additional 2 deaths being reported today include the following:

  • A woman in her 30’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A woman in her 60’s who was a resident of the City of Duncanville. She had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.

The provisional 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 38 was 307, an increase from the previous daily average of 261 for CDC week 37. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased and remains high with 11.9% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 38.

A provisional total of 237 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 38 (week ending 9/19/2020), an increase from the previous week for this age group. The percentage of cases occurring in young adults aged 18 to 22 years has increased to 13% for the month of September.

There were 330 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Tuesday, September 29. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 394 for the 24 hour period ending on Tuesday, September 28, which represents around 16 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.

“Today’s numbers includes 247 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, 38 probable cases and two deaths: one woman in her 30s and another in her 60s. Our numbers in Dallas County are now moving higher and that makes it very important that we all exercise good decision making. This includes wearing our mask one hundred percent of the time and maintaining six-foot distancing, washing our hands regularly, avoiding unnecessary exposures, and avoiding indoor activities where the mask cannot be worn one hundred percent of the time.

The fall can lead to a good situation with the weather cooling and more opportunities to space out outdoors. However, over the last two weeks, increased capacities at retail establishments and a letting down of the guard at functions at home, along with some outbreaks at schools (although those numbers have been manageable), and a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases in people 18-22, both in college and not in college, has led to the stop of our improvement. These increases now threaten to push us back into the sort of numbers that we saw in August if we don’t all work together to make smart decisions,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

All Dallas County COVID-19 Updates and Information can be found here: https://www.dallascounty.org/covid-19/ and all guidance documents can be found here: https://www.dallascounty.org/covid-19/guidance-health.php

Specific Guidance for the Public:

· Dallas County COVID-19 Related Health Guidance for the Public

· Dallas County Measures for Protecting An Institution’s Workforce from COVID-19 Infection: Employer/Employee Guidance

· Dallas County Guidance for Individuals at High-Risk for Severe COVID-19