DALLAS — Dallas County Health and Human Services reports a total of 311 additional cases (197 confirmed + 114 probable) of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Of the 197 newly reported confirmed cases, 186 confirmed cases were from the month of September.
The cumulative confirmed case count in Dallas County is 81,372 including 1,021 confirmed deaths. The cumulative probable case count in Dallas County is 4,038 including 13 probable deaths from COVID-19. Of the 197 new cases we are reporting today, 62 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) system, and 11 were from previous months.
Please see a provisional breakdown below of these newly reported cases by date of collection:
|
Month |
# of positive patients |
|
May |
1 |
|
June |
3 |
|
July |
2 |
|
August |
5 |
|
September |
51 |
The additional death being reported today is of man in his 90’s who was a resident of the City of Lancaster. 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 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.
Cases In School Aged Children Increased to 14% for September
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.
“Today we have a total of 311 COVID-19 positive cases, 11 of which are old and 114 of which are probable cases. Probable cases are most often from the nuclear family of a confirmed positive PCR COVID-19 test. When you look at the numbers of confirmed positive PCR tests, that number is 197.
It’s very important that we focus on taking common sense and scientifically proven steps to keep ourselves safe during this time where the state is beginning to see an uptick in cases and our numbers remain flat but our progress has stopped and we may begin to see a tick up. You cannot control what happens over the next two weeks because those numbers will be decided by what we did in the past due to the incubation period of the virus. We can control what happens 10-14 days from now.
Wear your mask, maintain six-foot distance, wash your hands frequently, avoid unnecessary trips, and avoid any activity that’s indoors where masks cannot be worn one hundred percent of the time. If you choose to eat at a restaurant, consider patio dining. If you choose organized workouts, consider working out outside the building in the fall weather and not inside of an indoor facility with heavy breathing and without masks.
If we all will put community health over our selfish desires to do the few things that the doctors tell us are still not safe, we hopefully can have a safer fall that allows for more freedom. But how the fall and winter goes is largely up to each of you,” 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
