Jenkins Says Numbers Are Still Impacted By Holiday Reporting
DALLAS — As of 12:00 pm December 1, 2020, Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 1,179 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County, 1,096 confirmed cases and 83 probable cases. There is a cumulative total of 127,786 cases (PCR test), including 1,218 confirmed deaths. There is a cumulative total of 12,191 probable cases (antigen test), including 36 probable deaths.
The additional deaths being reported today include the following:
- 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 did not have any underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City Grand Prairie. 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 had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 70’s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. She had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A woman in 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City DeSoto. He had been hospitalized, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in 80’s who was a resident of the City DeSoto. He had been hospitalized, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
‘It’s Not Safe To Go To Crowded Places’
“Today we have 1,179 new COVID positive cases and eight deaths. Most labs that did not report over the holidays or did not test for several days over the holidays are back online and tomorrow’s numbers should be representative of a typical day of testing.
A report from Dr. Birx and the National Coronavirus Task Force, issued on November 22 and sent to Governor Abbott, was discovered by a watchdog group. The report contains recommendations for the Governor to act on including limiting crowd sizes at venues and businesses. These recommendations mirror the recommendations that the Public Health Committee, made up of local experts in infectious disease, epidemiology and public health in Dallas County, have been asking of Governor Abbott for over a month. It’s unknown whether the Governor will act or to what extent, but you need not wait for government action to recognize that the health experts on the national and the local level are telling us it is not safe to go to crowded places, we should avoid get-togethers with people outside our family, and we should wear our mask whenever around others.
Now is a time for shared sacrifice and forgoing the selfish but understandable desires that we have to do the things that doctors tell us are just not safe for us, the community or the country. Now is a time for patriotism in doing things that not only will potentially protect you and your family, but that will protect and strengthen our community and our country. We won’t have to do this forever. The vaccine is coming but it’s not here yet and we must hold on a little bit longer.
I hope we will keep our spirit of thanksgiving going throughout this holiday season. I know we’re thankful for our own families and I hope we all recognize that following the doctors’ scientific recommendations will protect not only your family but others you’ve never met and that is the foundation of patriotism: to protect your community and your country, even those you’ve never met. Let’s stop looking at our neighbors with the thought that they’re doing something wrong and we’re doing something better, and all ask ourselves how we can do a little better because incremental changes in our behavior can have a big impact on the spread of COVID,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
Wednesday’s Data Should Show A More Accurate Picture
The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 46 has increased to 1,405, which is a rate of 53.3 daily new cases per 100,000 residents– the highest case rate in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased, with 17.0% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 46 (week ending 11/14/20).
A provisional total of 1,282 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 46, a three-fold increase from 5 weeks earlier (week ending 10/10/20). Since November 1, there have been 4,907 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from over 704 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 550 staff members. A total of 1,282 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 46 — which is 50% more than the number of cases in this age group reported during the second highest peak week of cases in July (Week 28). Since November 1, there have been 130 COVID-19 cases in children and staff reported from 97 separate daycares in Dallas County.
There were 806 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Monday, November 30. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 467 for the same time period, which represents around 22 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.
As expected, we saw a decrease in visits over the holiday weekend, but the numbers reported Monday are approaching all-time highs for hospitalized patients. We remain concerned about a potential surge on our hospitals over the next few weeks, as we see the impact holiday gatherings may have on the spread of COVID-19. Please take extra caution and stay away from others if you did choose to gather over the long weekend. You can find additional information on risk-level monitoring data here.
