Dallas County Reports 1,368 New COVID Cases, 6 Deaths
DALLAS —NOTE: Due to the observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, Dallas County will not be releasing COVID-19 data on Thursday, November 26 or Friday, November 27. Reporting will resume Saturday, November 28. Saturday’s reporting will include data processed Wednesday evening and Sunday’s reporting will include data from Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Today, Dallas County Health and Human Services reports 1,368 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County, 1,185 confirmed cases and 183 probable cases. There is a cumulative total of 122,184 cases (PCR test), including 1,202 confirmed deaths. There is a cumulative total of 11,627 probable cases (antigen test), including 29 probable deaths.
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 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 the City Coppell. He had been hospitalized, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City Dallas. He 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 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 DeSoto. 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 46 has increased to 1,405, which is a rate of 53.3 daily new cases per 100,000 residents– the highest case rate in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased, with 17.0% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 46 (week ending 11/14/20).
Case are Increasing In School Age Children
A provisional total of 1,282 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 46, a three-fold increase from 5 weeks earlier (week ending 10/10/20). Since November 1, there have been 3,630 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from over 632 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 466 staff members. A total of 1,282 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 46 — which is 50% more than the number of cases in this age group reported during the second highest peak week of cases in July (Week 28). Since November 1, there have been 130 COVID-19 cases in children and staff reported from 97 separate daycares in Dallas County.
Long-Term Care Facilities Seeing Highest Number of Active Outbreaks To Date
Over the past 30 days, there have been 818 COVID-19 cases reported from 90 separate long-term care facilities, including 309 staff members. This is the highest number of long-term care facilities with active outbreaks reported in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic. Of these cases, 48 have been hospitalized and 29 have died, including 2 deaths of staff members. Twenty active clusters of cases in congregate-living facilities (homeless shelters, group homes, and halfway homes) have been reported in the past 30 days associated with 167 cases, including one facility this past week with 81 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
There were 764 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Tuesday, November 24. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 508 for the same time period, 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.
Health care facilities are not our first line of defense but rather our last. Individual choices are critical in reducing your risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19. Please think of yourself, our community as a whole, and especially our health care providers, and make responsible decisions in line with public health guidance. Our hospital staff are working tirelessly to save lives. You can do the same and reduce their burden by staying home this holiday season.
Additionally, Table 8 below is from the November 24, 2020 Dallas County Health and Human Services 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary. Table 8 is a summary of confirmed and probable cases and deaths since late June in Dallas County.
Positivity Rate For Asymptomatic Individuals is Rising
“Today we report 1,368 cases, 1,185 from PCR tests and another 183 cases from the antigen/rapid test. We are also reporting six deaths today. For the latest CDC week, our average daily new COVID cases has risen to 1,405, and asymptomatic COVID-19 testing performed at Parkland, for example on patients undergoing routine procedures, surgery, or for labor and delivery, averaged over the last seven days is 12 percent.
This positivity rate is more than double the 5 percent rate that we have recently seen for COVID-19 positive asymptomatic individuals. If it is correct, it means that a gathering of 10 people statistically would have at least one person that is an asymptomatic COVID-19 positive spreader in that gathering. Even using the 5 percent positivity rate, there would be one COVID-19 positive spreader for every 20 persons.
This is why it’s so important to avoid crowds, including shopping crowds. Utilize online and curbside pickup for groceries and other items and avoid get-togethers in the home. I know this Thanksgiving is different but it can still be special. I hope everyone will take the time to think of the things that they are thankful for, list those things, and I suspect we’ll all find that each of us have people that we’re thankful for. I hope that we take the time in this Thanksgiving season to thank those people. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve all of you and I wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
