Dallas County Reports 355 New COVID-19 Cases
DALLAS — As of 3:00 pm September 18, 2020, Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 355 additional confirmed cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total confirmed case count in Dallas County to 76,962 including 990 confirmed deaths.
An additional 137 new probable cases with positive antigen test results were reported in Dallas County since yesterday, bringing the total probable cases in Dallas County to 3,774, including 11 probable deaths from COVID-19. Of the 185 new cases we are reporting today, 101 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) system and 26 were from previous months. Please see a provisional breakdown below of these newly reported cases by date of collection:
|
Month |
# of positive patients |
|
June |
1 |
|
July |
18 |
|
August |
7 |
|
September |
75 |
The additional 4 deaths being reported today include the following:
- A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Sunnyvale. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He 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 Irving. She had been critically ill in an area hospital, and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Duncanville. He 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 37 was 240, a decrease from the previous daily average of 279 for CDC week 36. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high with 10.0% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 37.
A provisional total of 156 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 37 (week ending 9/12/2020), 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% over the past 2 weeks.
Additionally, Figure 1 and Table 11 below are from the September 18, 2020 Dallas County Health and Human Services 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary. Figure 1 shows the confirmed COVID-19 positive cases by date of test collection. This chart includes all delayed results that were received by DCHHS as of 8:00pm Thursday. Table 11 is a summary of confirmed and probable cases and deaths over the past five weeks in Dallas County.
“We saw an increase in new COVID-19 positive cases of 329 today and an additional four deaths. For the CDC week ending September 12, we saw another decrease. Daily averages decreased to 240 average cases per day down from 279 for the previous week and 308 for the week before. It’s important to remember that these are provisional numbers. As cases come in and are allotted by test dates to their CDC week, the numbers change some regularly, but it is enough to see that there is a positive trend of cases going down. Also, our positivity rate, which remains high at 10%, is down from 10.8% in the previous week.
In order to continue to see gains, it’s very important that we continue to wear your mask and stay six feet apart. With the cooler weather it becomes more pleasant to be outside. There are two things that you can do to really impact our COVID-19 numbers. The first is to take your family gatherings outside, including anyone who visits your home, or anyone whose home you visit. Being outside is much safer than staying indoors.
Second, for those who are frequenting restaurants for in-dining as opposed to takeout and carry-out, please consider patio dining which is far safer than indoor dining. It will be more difficult to find that safe indoor dining experience with appropriate distancing as more people return to restaurant dining, so the patio is your best option if you don’t want to do takeout or carry-out. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable weekend,” 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
