DALLAS — Dallas County Health and Human Services reports 1,382 additional positive cases COVID-19 in Dallas County, 976 confirmed cases and 406 probable cases. There is a cumulative total of 150,509 cases (PCR test). There is a cumulative total of 17,103 probable cases (antigen test). A total of 1,413 Dallas County residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19 illness.
The additional deaths being reported today include the following:
- A woman in her 60’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 a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She died in hospice and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 70’s who was a resident of the Desoto. She was 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.
- A man in his 70’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. He 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 Balch Springs. She had been hospitalized, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 80’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 80’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 80’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 90’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
Johns Hopkins shows Dallas County in the top 20 counties for number of COVID-19 deaths.
COVID In Long-Term Care Facilities
Over the past 30 days, there have been 4,520 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 735 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 681 staff members. Of these cases, 534 have been associated with extracurricular activities, including athletics.
There are currently 93 active long-term care facility outbreaks. Over the past 30 days, a total of 848 COVID-19 cases have been reported from these facilities, including 317 staff members. Of these cases 32 have been hospitalized, and 33 have died, including 2 deaths of staff members. Twenty-six 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 165 cases, including 6 hospitalizations. One facility has reported 89 COVID-19 outbreak cases since October.
New cases are being reported as a daily aggregate, with a more detailed summary report updated Tuesdays and Fridays available at: https://www.dallascounty.org/departments/dchhs/2019-novel-coronavirus/daily-updates.php
There were 821 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, December 16. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 524 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. These numbers continued to exhaust our local hospital systems, along with regional high hospitalizations, and our health care workers are being stretched thin. Please help us change course and commit to a virtual holiday.
Vaccinations Are Light At End of Tunnel
“Today we report an additional 1,382 cases and ten new deaths. As the holidays approach, now is the time to remember the adage ‘an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure.’ Thinking ahead on your holiday needs, whether it’s groceries or gifts, and ordering those online now so they’ll arrive on time, or ordering them for curbside pick-up, will lead to less crowds and less spread.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel with vaccinations happening and thousands of our healthcare heroes have received their vaccination. By the end of this month, we expect hundreds of thousands of North Texas’ healthcare heroes and nursing home residents to have received their first shot but that great news should not be taken as an excuse to disregard doctors’ advice to wear a mask, avoid crowds, and forgo get-togethers. Now is a time that we all must make small sacrifices to keep our community and our country strong at this time of unprecedented high spread and while we await the herd immunity that will come from the vast majority of the population being inoculated.
I am so thankful for the people of North Texas. You have showed courage in rising to the challenge time and time again this year. You did it at Thanksgiving and you’re doing it now once again. Remember, please don’t focus on what your neighbor is doing that you believe is unsafe, rather focus on what incremental actions that you and those in your sphere of influence can take to keep yourself, and our community and country just a little bit safer,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
