Dallas County Reports 244 New Positive 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases
DALLAS — As of 5:00 pm September 26, 2020, Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting a total of 415 additional cases (373 confirmed + 42 probable) of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Of the 373 newly reported confirmed cases, 202 confirmed cases were from the month of September. The cumulative confirmed case count in Dallas County is 80,978 including 1,017 confirmed deaths.
The cumulative probable case count in Dallas County is 3,922, including 12 probable deaths from COVID-19. Of the 373 new reports of positive molecular COVID-19 tests, 266 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) system and 171 were from previous months. Please see a provisional breakdown below of these newly reported cases by date of collection:
|
Month |
# of positive patients |
|
May |
74 |
|
June |
50 |
|
July |
9 |
|
August |
38 |
|
Sept |
95 |
The additional 2 deaths being reported today include the following:
- A man in his 30’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had an underlying high risk health condition.
A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and did not have 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 296, an increase from the previous daily average of 258 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.
COVID-19 Positive Cases In School Aged Children Are Increasing
A provisional total of 225 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 14% for the month of September.
There were 321 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Friday, September 25. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 341 for the 24 hour period ending on Friday, September 25, which represents around 14 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.
COVID-19 Cases In Dallas County Are Rising
“Today we have an additional 244 recent COVID-19 cases from all sources and 171 older cases from the state’s electronic laboratory reporting system. For the week, we had an average of 282 new cases per day and a total of 23 confirmed deaths. It is important to note that this figure uses the simple math of taking the number of preliminary new cases for the week and dividing by seven. The more accurate figures are the numbers that the epidemiology team does on Tuesdays and Fridays where we peel out the date of test collection, including those who have come in after the week concludes.
For instance, we have 171 old cases today that will be slotted in by their date of test collection into the weeks when the test was performed. So, these weekly numbers of new cases are changing and that is evidenced in the Tuesday and Friday reports from Dallas County Health and Human Services epidemiology team. The numbers we give you today though give you a snapshot of whether we’ve increased or decreased from the same data set last week and in the week that just ended we saw an average of 282 cases versus 256 last week.
As I informed yesterday, our positivity rate has gone from 10% to 11.9% in one week and extra vigilance is warranted as more people crowd into indoor establishments making it more difficult to maintain proper spacing. Scientists say the key to being around people outside your home is threefold: masking, six-foot distancing, and frequent hand-washing. With the increasing crowds, the six-foot distancing is more of a challenge and it’s up to all of us to find the right activities that allow us to keep ourselves and the community safe,” 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
