41 Dallas Area High School Students Get COVID-19 After Attending Dinner And Dance, County Says
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County Health and Human Services reported an outbreak of 41 cases of COVID-19 among high school students who attended a dance and dinner on Saturday, March 13.
No other details have been released on that outbreak or how those infected are doing.
An additional nine COVID-19 cases among students and coaches have been reported associated with outbreaks on two high school basketball teams.
"As we strive to vaccinate as many North Texans as quickly as possible and to win the war against COVID-19 by reaching herd immunity before the virus can mutate into strains that are vaccine resistant, it is important that we remember the underlying health and safety measures that have protected us thus far. Please continue to wear your mask, wash your hands, avoid unnecessary indoor crowds, and maintain a six-foot distance, as these are keys in the battle against COVID-19. Also, take advantage of the patio and outdoor activities while the weather is pleasant as it is much harder to spread illness in an outdoor setting than an indoor one," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
DCHHS reported 228 additional positive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, March 23.
Of those, 151 are confirmed cases and 77 are probable cases.
There is a cumulative total of 251,039 confirmed cases (PCR test).
There is a cumulative total of 37,889 probable cases (antigen test).
A total of 3,413 Dallas County residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19 illness after 19 more deaths were reported Tuesday.
During the past 30 days, there were 1,297 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 425 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County.
There are currently 25 active long-term care facility outbreaks. A cumulative total of 4,255 residents and 2,359 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Of these, 1,002 have been hospitalized and 656 have died. About 22% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities.
Thirteen 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.
A cumulative total of 429 residents and 207 staff members in congregate-living facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Two cases of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.429 have been newly reported in residents of Dallas County; this variant was first described to emerge in California.
To date, a total of 14 cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 and one case of a B.1.526 variant have been identified in residents of Dallas County.
One was hospitalized and five had history of recent domestic travel outside of Texas.
The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 10 was 257, which is a rate of 9.7 daily new cases per 100,000 residents.
The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 6.9% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 10 (week ending 3/13/21).