Dallas County Health and Human Services reported three deaths and 276 new cases of COVID-19 on Aug. 28, bringing the total case count in Dallas County to 70,376 with 898 total deaths to date.

The total number of probable cases in Dallas County is 2,834, including 8 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The total new cases today include 18 from Texas Department of State Health Services in June.

The additional three deaths being reported today include the following:

A woman in her 60’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an areahospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 70’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. She had been hospitalized and hadunderlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He had been critically ill in an areahospital and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

 “Of the 276 cases we report today, only 18 cases are from the State’s electronic laboratory reporting system and all 18 of those cases are from June. So for today, we have 258 recently tested positive cases to report of COVID-19. Additionally, we are reporting three deaths. Yesterday we went above 70,000 Dallas County residents who’ve contracted COVID-19 to date, but there are reasons for optimism as our hospitalizations and other metrics are trending downward. This is strong evidence that masking, social distancing, hand washing, and avoiding unnecessary trips and any indoor activities where people cannot wear a mask one hundred percent of the time is working. 

I want to commend all of our city and county employees who have been stepping up to help our fellow Texans during the Hurricane Laura sheltering efforts. Families have been sheltered in Dallas, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson, and Farmers Branch under the program, with the City of Dallas handling the logistics for the Farmers Branch location. Other cities have stepped up as well and I’m proud that Dallas County is a welcoming place that will not turn its back on its fellow Texans in their time of need.

I hope everyone finds a little time away from all of the many challenges that are facing us in this extremely tough year. We need you all to stay in the fight so we can get through this as a community and a key to success is for everyone to practice good self-care, not only to make good choices about what to do in the age of COVID-19, but to take some time for yourself and those that you love,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From August 1st to 14th, 531 school-aged children between 5 to 18 years of age were reported to have been diagnosed with confirmed COVID-19. About 50% of these cases were high school age. By zip code of residence, 302 (57%) of these children were projected to have been enrolled in Dallas ISD schools. 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.

The 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 33 was 295. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has been declining but remains high, with about 12.8% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 33. Of the total confirmed deaths reported to date, about 26% have been associated with longterm care facilities. New cases are being reported as a daily aggregate, with a more detailed summary report updated Tuesdays and Fridays.

Local health experts use hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ER visits as three of the key indicators in determining the COVID-19 Risk Level (color-coded risk) and corresponding guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response.

There were 388 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending Wednesday, August 26. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 512 in the 24 hour period ending Wednesday, August 26, which represents around 21 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council. While these numbers represent a significant decline from record highs, the disruptive impact of COVID-19 on our populations and health care systems remains.

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. The 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 32 was 398.

The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has been declining but remains high, with about 14% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 32. Of the total confirmed deaths reported to date, about 26% have been associated with long-term care facilities. New cases are being reported as a daily aggregate, with a more detailed summary report updated Tuesdays and Fridays.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]