Dallas County Reports 346 New Coronavirus Cases, 2 Deaths
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 346 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the total confirmed case count in Dallas County to 78,723.
The county also confirmed two more deaths, bringing the total to 1,002.
The deceased patients were a Dallas man in his 50s and a Dallas man in his 70s.
Both had underlying high risk health conditions and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
"With the increasing capacities at certain businesses & more activities opening up, it will more important than ever that we make these good decisions," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a statement. "We must put the community good over our selfish desire to do those few things that the Public Health Committee continues to recommend against so that we can protect public health, jobs, and get our children back to school safely."
Of the 346 new confirmed cases reported Wednesday, 221 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services' electronic laboratory reporting system and 20 were from July and August.
Texas Surpasses 15K Coronavirus Deaths
Judge Jenkins said hospitalization numbers have stopped their decline and have been largely flat in recent days.
The provisional 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 37 was 257, a decrease from the previous daily average of 294 for CDC week 36.
The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high with 10.0% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 37.
A provisional total of 179 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 37 (week ending 9/12/2020), 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.