Dallas County Sees Improvement In Some Areas
DALLAS — Judge Jenkins says the weekly report from the CDC shows improvement in all areas with the exception of the positivity rate in Dallas, which increased by 2 points.
As of 12:00 pm December 5, 2020, Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 1,675 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County, 1,411 confirmed cases and 264 probable cases. There is a cumulative total of 132,890 cases (PCR test), including 1,232 confirmed deaths. There is a cumulative total of 13,430 probable cases (antigen test), including 38 probable deaths.
The additional deaths being reported today include the following:
- 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 had underlying high risk health conditions.
- 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 had underlying high risk health conditions.
The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 48 was to 1,069, which is a rate of 40.6 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased, with 22.3% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 48 (week ending 11/28/20).
Next Week’s Numbers Should Reflect Thanksgiving
“Today we report another 1675 COVID cases and two deaths. Our numbers for the CDC week are improved in all categories except for our positivity rate as it’s two percentage points higher. The improving numbers, while early, are an indication that residents are renewing their strength and engaging in shared sacrifice and patriotism to keep our community and our country strong until such time as the vaccine can be widely distributed and have its effect. We’ve just got to keep it up and keep making those smart decisions.
By next week we’ll have a feel for what the after effects of Thanksgiving will be, and with the colder weather, we know that COVID cases are likely to uptick as more and more people are forced into tight spaces indoors. So it’s a time to be thankful for all the things that we have and not focus on the things that we would like to do that the disease is keeping us from doing. We also should not focus on our neighbors for their perceived failures but rather look at ourselves and those in our family and work teams and ask ourselves how we can get incrementally better and a little safer.
If you are a senior citizen, take advantage of the free prescription delivery services available from your pharmacies. Groceries shoppers, please consider curbside pickup. Do your workouts outside and away from others, and avoid crowds and postpone get-togethers in this time of high spread. If we do those things and other things that lessen our contacts, we can keep our community and America strong. I know you can do it North Texas. You’ve done it before in this pandemic and with other challenges. We are in this together and together we will defeat COVID-19,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
Since November 1, there have been 5,320 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from over 770 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 849 staff members. Thirteen K-12 schools in Dallas County initiated temporary closures of their campuses to in-person instruction this past week due to COVID-19.
There are currently 97 active long-term care facility outbreak
This is the highest number of long-term care facilities with active outbreaks reported in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic. Over the past 30 days, a total of 927 COVID-19 cases have been reported from these facilities, including 309 staff members. Of these cases 42 have been hospitalized, and 29 have died, including 2 deaths of staff members.Twenty-two outbreaks of COVID-19 in congregate-living facilities (e.g. homeless shelters, group homes, and halfway homes) have been reported in the past 30 days associated with 168 cases, including one facility with 87 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
There were 764 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Friday, December 4. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 474 for the same time period, which represents around 21 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.
On December 3, Trauma Service Area E (TSA E), which includes Dallas County and the greater Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, reached seven consecutive days where the percentage of COVID-19 confirmed patients in regional hospitals, as a percentage of available hospital beds, exceeded 15 percent. According to Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA-32 (GA-32), this makes TSA E an area with high hospitalizations and certain occupancy reductions are automatically triggered by reaching this threshold.
Additionally, Table 8 below is from the December 4, 2020 Dallas County Health and Human Services 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary. Table 8 is a summary of confirmed and probable cases and deaths since late June in Dallas County.
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 Guidance for Individuals at High-Risk for Severe COVID-19
