After Downward Trend, Dallas County Coronavirus Cases 'May Be Beginning To Trend Upward Slightly'
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 376 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total confirmed case count in Dallas County to 74,476 including 957 confirmed deaths after the county reported nine more.
The total number of probable cases in Dallas County is 3,258, including 10 probable deaths from COVID-19.
Of the 376 new cases reported Wednesday, 168 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services' electronic laboratory reporting system with 110 from previous months.
"Preliminarily, epidemiologists looking at date of test collection say that our downward trend in new COVID-19 cases has stopped and may be beginning to trend upward slightly. Therefore, it's imperative that we all make good decisions," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a statement. "Please continue to wear your mask at all times when around people outside your home and maintain six foot distance. Remember, it's not one or the other, it's both. Also, wash your hands frequently and avoid unnecessary crowds and trips."
The provisional 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 35 has increased slightly from the previous week to 277.
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 35.
From August 15th through 28th, 317 school-aged children between 5 to 17 years of age were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Dallas County.
About 43% of these cases were high school age (14 to 17 years). By zip code of residence, 167 (53%) of these children were projected to have been enrolled in Dallas ISD schools.
During the past 10 days, more than 25 possible cases of COVID-19 have been reported associated with multiple youth hockey teams in the DFW area.
"Today's numbers are 376 and 266 of those numbers were from September but it's unknown how many of those "new" cases were actually from tests in August. Our current median testing time is nine days with some of our labs taking longer than nine days and some labs taking less than nine days. Labs used by Dallas County and Parkland are taking about three days, so it's hard to know how many of these cases are new," said Judge Jenkins.
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.
"Recently, the TABC relaxed the rules for some bars and we are hearing more and more reports of crowded bars. We know that in every state that has left their bars open or reopened bars, they have seen a big spike in COVID-19 cases that increases infection and hurts other businesses and schools. The Public Health Committee, Dr. Huang and I strongly urge residents to avoid bars at this time. We also strongly encourage Governor Abbott to not loosen restrictions on bars and in fact, to close any loopholes that are allowing indoor gatherings at bars until the numbers are lower. If we all do our part, we have a good chance to get to a better place this fall but it is very easy to let our guard down and have the numbers jump in a short time. History has shown us that it takes months to get the numbers back down again. So please make your best decisions for you and your family, don't let your guard down, and always wear your mask," said Judge Jenkins.
The additional nine deaths reported Wednesday include the following:
- A woman in her 40's who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. She had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 50's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He expired in an area hospital ED, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 60's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 70's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She expired in an area hospital ED, and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.
- A man in his 80's who was a resident of the City of Richardson. He had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions
