Dallas County Health and Human Services reported three deaths, and 156 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, today, Sep. 13.  The total case count in Dallas County is 75,208 with 973 total deaths to date.

The total number of probable cases in Dallas County is 3,593, including 11 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The total new cases today include 28 from Texas Department of State Health Services in April (2), May (34), July (9), August (2) and September (11).

The additional three deaths being reported today include the following:

A man in his 50’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He expired in the facility.

A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital, and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 90’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Garland. He expired in the facility, and had 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.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]