Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins Says Coronavirus Numbers Remain Flat 'But Our Progress Has Stopped'
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 197 newly reported confirmed cases on Monday, bringing the total confirmed case count in Dallas County is 81,372 including 1,021 confirmed deaths.
The cumulative probable case count in Dallas County is 4,038 including 13 probable deaths from COVID-19.
Of the 197 new cases reported Monday, 62 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services' electronic laboratory reporting system, and 11 were from previous months.
The one additional death reported Monday was Lancaster man in his 90s who had underlying high risk health conditions.
"It's very important that we focus on taking common sense and scientifically proven steps to keep ourselves safe during this time where the state is beginning to see an uptick in cases and our numbers remain flat but our progress has stopped and we may begin to see a tick up. You cannot control what happens over the next two weeks because those numbers will be decided by what we did in the past due to the incubation period of the virus. We can control what happens 10-14 days from now," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a statement.
He once again reminded citizens to wear masks, maintain six-foot distance, wash hands frequently, avoid unnecessary trips, and avoid any activity that's indoors where masks cannot be worn one hundred percent of the time.
"If you choose to eat at a restaurant, consider patio dining. If you choose organized workouts, consider working out outside the building in the fall weather and not inside of an indoor facility with heavy breathing and without masks. If we all will put community health over our selfish desires to do the few things that the doctors tell us are still not safe, we hopefully can have a safer fall that allows for more freedom. But how the fall and winter goes is largely up to each of you," Judge Jenkins said.
The provisional 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 38 was 296, an increase from the previous daily average of 258 for CDC week 37.
The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased and remains high with 11.9% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 38.
A provisional total of 225 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 38 (week ending 9/19/2020), an increase from the previous week for this age group.
The percentage of cases occurring in young adults aged 18 to 22 years has increased to 14% for the month of September.
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.
Of the total confirmed deaths reported to date, about 25% have been associated with long-term care facilities.