Dallas County Covid-19 Cases Are Rising Rapidly, 1,517 Reported Today
DALLAS — As of 2:00 pm November 2, 2020, Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) is reporting 1517 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County for a cumulative total of 97,875 confirmed cases (PCR test), including 1,119 confirmed deaths.
There are 1,040 additional probable cases (antigen test) to report today for a total of 7,034 probable cases including 15 probable deaths. A large network of outpatient clinics has just begun comprehensive electronic reporting of their antigen testing results to DCHHS. Of the probable cases being reported today, about 80% are from these clinics, representing recent positive antigen test results of Dallas residents from 10/13/20 through 10/29/20.
Of the 477 new confirmed cases we are reporting today, 375 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) system, and one is from March. Please see a provisional breakdown below of these newly reported cases by date of collection:
|
Month |
# of positive patients |
|
March |
1 |
|
October |
374 |
The additional deaths being reported today includes the following:
- A man in his 40’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 50’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 43 has increased to 652 — the highest daily average of new cases since July. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased to 15.4% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 43 (week ending 10/24/20). A provisional total of 587 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 43 – over twice the numbers of children diagnosed in this age group 4 weeks earlier (CDC week ending 9/26/2020).
“Today we are seeing a record number of new COVID-19 positive cases along with two deaths, one man in his 40’s and one man in his 50’s. Of the large probable amount, a large network of outpatient clinics has just begun comprehensive electronic reporting of their antigen testing results to Dallas County Health and Human Services. Of the probable cases being reported today, about 80% are from these clinics, representing recent positive antigen test results of Dallas County residents from October 13 through October 29.
Therefore, the large amount of cases today can be attributed to this data dump representing cases that were performed over a 15 day period. This is not really a backlog, but rather a bulk upload from outpatient clinics that have ramped up antigen testing this month. With the numbers that we are seeing, it is increasingly important that we wear a mask and avoid crowds. You know what to do, we just need to all do it.
Tomorrow is Election Day and voting will be safe. We have not had any cases of transmission at any of our polling locations in either the primary, the runoff, or this election. In this election alone, over 800,000 Dallas County voters have voted safely and those that want to vote on Election Day should have high confidence that they should be able to vote safely as well. Wear your mask and bring your patience as lines may be long and the best way to avoid a long line is to go to www.DallasCountyVotes.org and click on the color-coded chart that indicates which polling site locations are green. If you choose to vote at a green site, you can be in and out of that site in 20 minutes or less.
For those wondering if their mail-in ballot has been received, you can go to www.txballot.org and put in your name and county and see if your ballot has been received. If your ballot has been mailed but not received, you may vote a provisional ballot in-person or curbside tomorrow. If the mail ballot does not arrive at the Elections Department before Wednesday, November 4, at 5pm, your provisional ballot will be counted in this election.
If you have a mail ballot and have not turned it in, you may turn it in via hand delivery at 1520 Round Table, Dallas, Texas 75247 or you may vote in-person at any of the 463 locations that will be open throughout the county tomorrow. Make sure to take your mail ballot with you. You can cancel the mail ballot and vote a regular ballot for this election tomorrow,” 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
Specific Guidance for the Public:
· Dallas County COVID-19 Related Health Guidance for the Public
· Dallas County Guidance for Individuals at High-Risk for Severe COVID-19
