Dallas County Reports 656 New COVID-19 Cases, 4 Deaths

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Dallas County COVID 19 poster

DALLAS — As of 3:00 pm October 29, 2020, Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 656 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County for a cumulative total of 95,402 confirmed cases (PCR test), including 1,108 confirmed deaths.

There are 91 additional probable cases (antigen test) to report today for a total of 5,649 probable cases including 14 probable deaths. Of the 565 new confirmed cases we are reporting today, 274 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) system, and all are from October.

The additional 4 deaths being reported today include the following:

  • A man in his 40’s who was a resident of the City of Cedar Hill. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
  • A man in his 50’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 80s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been admitted to an area hospital (not critically ill), 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.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 42 was 588 — the highest daily average of new cases since July. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased to 14.2% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 42 (week ending 10/17/20). A provisional total of 493 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 42 – about twice the numbers of children diagnosed in this age group 3 weeks earlier (CDC week ending 9/26/2020).

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 453 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, October 28. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 440 for the 24 hour period ending on Wednesday, October 28, which represents around 20 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.

We know historically from the increase over the summer, that hospitalizations can rise rapidly and take months to decline. Local hospitals also have patients that have been hospitalized for extensive periods due to complications from COVID. These patients are not reflected in current numbers but illustrate the expansive impact of this pandemic on our hospital systems and health care workers.

“Our number of new COVID-19 cases continues its trend upward and hospitals and medical modelers are telling us that if we don’t change our behavior, we will have numbers exceeding 1,000 cases per day going into Thanksgiving. It’s important that we find fun things to do this Halloween that don’t include trick-or-treating or Halloween dances or parties.

Consider family activities like pumpkin carving, candy hunts, movie nights, crafting and other activities to make this a meaningful and memorable holiday without increasing the spread of COVID. We all know what we need to do, we just need to do it so that we can change the trajectory of where we are going to be this winter without an increase in compliance with masking, social distancing and avoiding crowds,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

Dallas County COVID Inpatient graph

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 Measures for Protecting An Institution’s Workforce from COVID-19 Infection: Employer/Employee Guidance

·       Dallas County Guidance for Individuals at High-Risk for Severe COVID-19