Dallas County Reports More Than 2K New Coronavirus Cases; Judge Clay Jenkins Calls Vaccine 'Light At End Of The Tunnel'
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 2,122 additional positive cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, Dec. 3.
That total includes 1,637 confirmed cases and 485 probable cases.
This is the second highest number of new COVID-19 infections Dallas County has seen reported in a single day.
The county also reported three more COVID-19 deaths on Thursday.
They were three Dallas men, one in his 60s and two in their 70s. Each had underlying high risk health conditions.
There is a cumulative total of 130,830 cases (PCR test), including 1,224 confirmed deaths in Dallas County since the pandemic began.
There were 813 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
"It's a strong reminder that now is the time for shared sacrifice and patriotism in forgoing the few things that doctors tell us are not safe and instead focusing on thankfulness for all the things we still can do in this time of increased spread while looking forward to getting back to our pre-COVID activities after the vaccine has been broadly distributed in the next few months," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a statement. "I anticipate that we will be giving the vaccine to healthcare workers and the nursing home population later this month and so there is a light at the end of the tunnel."
The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 47 was to 1,347, which is a rate of 51.1 daily new cases per 100,000 residents.
The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased, with 17.3% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 47 (week ending 11/21/20).
Since November 1, there have been 4,907 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from over 704 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 550 staff members.
A total of 1,157 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 47 -- which is 50% more than the number of cases in this age group reported during the highest week of cases during July (Week 28).
Thirteen K-12 schools in Dallas County have initiated temporary closures of their campuses to in-person instruction for this week due to COVID-19 cases. Since November 1, there have been over 134 COVID-19 cases in children and staff reported from 101 separate daycares in Dallas County.
There are currently 95 active long-term care facility outbreaks.
This is the highest number of long-term care facilities with active outbreaks reported in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic.
Over the past 30 days, a total of 798 COVID-19 cases have been reported from these facilities, including 309 staff members.
Of these cases 44 have been hospitalized, and 27 have died, including 2 deaths of staff members.
Twenty-two 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 associated with 168 cases, including one facility with 87 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
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 23% have been associated with long-term care facilities.
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