Dallas County Sees Over 900 COVID-19 Hospitalizations, 3rd Record High This Week
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County has seen a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations for the third time this week, with over 900 patients being reported Saturday. The county also reported 1,723 new virus cases and eight more deaths.
Saturday's case count brings the total in the county to 153,823, which is the second highest in the state behind Harris County. Health officials said 347 of Saturday's cases are considered probable.
Eight more deaths were also reported on Friday, for a total of 1,431 deaths. Health officials said two men in their 50s were found dead in their homes and three others -- a man in his 70s, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 80s -- died in hospice care. A man in his 70s died in a hospital's emergency department, while the other two -- a man in his 70s and a man in his 90s -- had been hospitalized.
All eight patients who died had underlying high risk health conditions, according to health officials.
Health officials said there are currently 910 patients with COVID-19 in hospitals as of Friday, Dec. 18, which is the highest number it has seen during the pandemic.
NEW: Dallas County Reports Record High Hospitalizations for Third Time this Week, 1,723 New Positive 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases and 8 Deaths, Including 347 Probable Cases pic.twitter.com/yjPzkYFpsq
— Clay Jenkins (@JudgeClayJ) December 19, 2020
"Our number of average cases per day is slightly down this week and our number of reported deaths this week is down to 56. For the third time this week, we're also reporting a new record of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Dallas County," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. "Unlike in the spring and summer surges, the ability to draw on regional capacity and additional staff is limited at this time. A post-holiday surge on top of the current increases could be devastating to our already heavily burdened health care providers."
In Tarrant County, 1,876 new cases and 13 deaths were reported on Saturday. The county's totals are now at 130,137 cases and 1,084 deaths.
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