Dallas County Reports 327 New Cases, 23 Deaths

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Judge Jenkins Urges DFW Residents To Get Vaccinated

DALLAS — As of 2:00 pm April 1, 2021 Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 327 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County, 191 confirmed cases and 136 probable cases. A total of 3,550 Dallas County residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19 illness.

 

Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) is providing initial vaccinations to those most at risk of exposure to COVID-19 and over 271,000 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered at the Fair Park mega-vaccine clinic, which started operations on Monday, January 11. Vaccine operations for both first and second doses at Fair Park will continue through Saturday.

Today we report an additional 327 new cases of COVID-19 and 23 additional deaths. Other parts of the country are seeing an uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases and we don’t want that to happen here. In order for us to continue seeing modest declines in our cases, we must continue to get vaccinated. Currently, there are only about 150,000 people who have not been offered appointments for vaccination on the Dallas County waitlist. This list is shared between the County, the cities of Dallas, Grand Prairie and Irving, Parkland, and other agencies. With the amount of vaccine expected to increase, if many more people do not register quickly, the list may run out of names within a month.

 

Only a little over 1.1 million have signed up on the list but there are 2.7 million people who live in Dallas County, and many of the people who have signed up on the list are from the surrounding counties. This indicates that there are many Dallas County residents who have not registered and are not on the waitlist. The list is open to anyone, even if you are currently too young to qualify for a shot. Please register immediately so that when you do become eligible, you can get a shot as soon as possible. Anyone over the age of 16 is now eligible for a shot in Dallas County. Anyone over the age of 70 can come to Fair Park, without registering beforehand, and be moved to the front of the line to get their shot. Please take advantage of getting your vaccine by registering at www.DallasCounty.org to help your community reach herd immunity faster. 

Today is Maundy Thursday, a day when we remember Jesus’ words to love and serve one another, the way that he served us. We do this by registering for a vaccine and getting vaccinated to help protect our community, wearing our mask, washing our hands, avoiding crowds and maintaining our distance. These are all ways that we show kindness and love towards one another in these difficult times. If we continue to follow the doctors’ recommendations on masking in public, staying safe, and getting vaccinated, we will defeat COVID together,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

The additional deaths being reported today include the following:

  • A woman in her 40’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 man in his 40’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He was found deceased at home and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Desoto. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A woman in her 50’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 50’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He was found deceased at home and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Farmers Branch. He expired in hospice care 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 did not have underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He expired in a facility and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • 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 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 man in his 60’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 woman in her 60’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She expired in hospice 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 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 of Dallas. He expired in an area hospital ED 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 Dallas. He expired in hospice and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. 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 Garland. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A woman in her 80’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She expired in hospice care and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A man in his 80’s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A woman in her 90’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A woman in her 90’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

7.8% Positivity Rate

The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, and with 7.8% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 11 (week ending 3/20/21).

 

Twelve 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.

 

Of all confirmed cases requiring hospitalization to date, more than two-thirds have been under 65 years of age. Diabetes has been an underlying high-risk health condition reported in about a third of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

15% Of ER Visits Are COVID Related

Local health experts use hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ER visits as three of the key indicators as part of determining the COVID-19 Risk Level (color-coded risk) and corresponding guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response. There were 167 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on March 31.

The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 396 for the same time-period, which represents around 15 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.

COVID inpatients Dallas

We remain concerned for additional waves due to a potential rise in variants and because community spread remains high creating an environment for cases to reignite, especially if compliance with personal actions such as masking and distancing decline. We don’t yet know the implications of Spring Break and other travel, and encourage everyone to continue taking all personal precautions recommended by the CDC and local public health experts, especially avoiding indoor gatherings.

CDC “Holiday Tips” recommends avoiding in-person religious gatherings and remaining only with your household members for meals and other activities. UTSW forecasting reflects a leveling within their model with hospitalizations between 100-160 and daily case counts of 350 by April 15th. Modeling indicates if there are major changes to personal behaviors, such as not masking or social distancing, that we could see substantial surge.