Dallas County Reports 259 New Coronavirus Cases At It Approaches 75K
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 259 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total confirmed case count in Dallas County to 74,887 including 965 confirmed deaths after the county reported one more.
The patient was a 78-year-old Sunnyvale woman who died in the hospital, but did not have underlying high risk health conditions.
Of the 259 new cases reported Wednesday, 109 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services' electronic laboratory reporting system with 64 from previous months.
The additional death being reported today is of a 78 year-old woman who was a resident of the City of Sunnyvale. She had been critically ill in an area hospital, and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.
Cases declined the week ending September 5 and the percent positivity rate for that week remained the same.
The number of students that were positive was down for the week of September 5.
"There are concerning numbers in that the R naught has gone up as well as we've seen an increase in some other metrics and the Public Health Committee is meeting today to look at these factors and ascertain any root causes and information that may be helpful in controlling the spread," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a statement Friday.
The provisional 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 36 was 243, slightly decreased from the previous CDC week 35's daily average of 295.
The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high with 10.8% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 36.
A provisional total of 104 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 36 (week ending 9/5/2020), a decline from the previous week for this age group.
Over the past 2 weeks, 31 cases of COVID-19 have been reported associated with multiple youth hockey teams in the DFW area, including 5 coaches. One 29-year old hockey coach was reported to have had COVID-19 at the time of his death last week in an adjacent county.
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.
Today is September 11th and is a day that reminds us of the great sacrifice of many to protect freedom. If those who have gone before us can do great acts of heroism, we can do simple acts of kindness and consideration to protect our fellow resident from COVID-19 to keep our businesses strong and to get more of our kids back into school sooner. So please wear your mask and maintain six foot distance, wash your hands frequently, avoid unnecessary trips, and stay away from indoor crowds where people are not wearing their mask one hundred percent of the time," said Judge Jenkins.