Dallas County Health and Human Services reported six deaths, and 165 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, today, Sep. 12.  The total case count in Dallas County is 75,052 with 970 total deaths to date.

The total number of probable cases in Dallas County is 3,459, including 11 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The total new cases today include 15 from Texas Department of State Health Services in July (2), August (3) and September (10).

The additional six deaths being reported today include the following:

A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He expired in an area hospital ED and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. She expired in an area hospital ED and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 60’s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. She was found deceased at home and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 80’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She was found deceased at home and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 80’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

The provisional 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 36 was 243, slightly increased from the previous CDC week 35’s daily average of 295. 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 36.

A provisional total of 104 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 36 (week ending 9/5/2020), a continued increased trend from the previous two weeks for this age group. Over the past 2 weeks, 33 cases of COVID-19 have been reported associated with multiple youth hockey teams in the DFW area, including 5 coaches. One 29-year old hockey coach was reported to have had COVID-19 at the time of his death last week in an adjacent county.

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. 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 325 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Friday, September 11. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 371 for the 24-hour period ending on Friday, September 11, 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 in July, the disruptive impact of COVID-19 on our populations and health care systems remains.

“Today we had 165 COVID-19 cases reported, 160 of which were from recent tests. For the week, we had an average of 202 new cases, which is lower than the corresponding metric from last week, and a total of 26 deaths. The Saturday average numbers are compiled by taking the new cases from Sunday through Saturday of each week; however, the Friday numbers that we reported yesterday for the daily average of new cases of 243 for the week ending September 5th are now the most accurate weekly totals. Although they lag by roughly a week, they allow our epidemiologists to strip out our older cases by looking at the date on which each test was performed. This requires epidemiologists to look at the date of each test and is not done in real time. We are providing you today with both numbers but again encouraging you to focus on the number we gave you yesterday that has the lag time.

We have indicators that show some increase in COVID-19 activity and some that are remaining flat or trending lower. The Public Health Committee is looking at these closely and will have more information when it becomes available. In the meantime, it’s very important that you continue wearing your mask, maintaining six-foot distancing, frequently washing your hands, and avoiding unnecessary trips and indoor crowds where people are not wearing their mask one hundred percent of the time.

 The CDC has recommended that Texas keep bars closed particularly in counties where there are colleges due to the spread we are seeing nationwide in places where bars are open and packed with young people. I encourage Governor Abbott as he contemplates moves in reopening to follow the recommendations that the CDC made directly to him regarding bars and to keep the mask mandate in place,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]