Dallas County Health and Human Services reported three deaths and 173 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, today, Sep. 22.  The total case count in Dallas County is 78,337 with 1,000 total deaths to date.

The total number of probable cases in Dallas County is 3,871, including 11 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The total new cases today include 73 from Texas Department of State Health Services in June (1), July (1) and September (71).

Today, the city of Sachse reported the following cases: number 283 is a 15-year-old girl in Dallas County, 284 is a 34-year-old man in Collin County, 285 is a 45-year-old-man in Dallas County, 286 is an 81-year-old man in Collin County, 287 is a 33-year-old woman in Dallas County, 288 is a 21-year-old man in Dallas County, 289 is a 58-year-old man in Dallas County, 290 is a 15-year-old girl in Dallas County and the 291^st case is a 15-year-old girl in Dallas County.

The additional three deaths being reported today in Dallas County are:

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 70’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. 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 Grand Prairie. He had been critically ill in an area hospital 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 37 was 257, a decrease from the previous daily average of 294 for CDC week 36.. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 10% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 37.

A provisional total of 179 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 37 (week ending 9/12/2020), an increase from the previous week for this age group. The percentage of cases occurring in young adults aged 18 to 22 years has increased to 14% over the past 2 weeks.

Of the cases requiring hospitalization to date, more than two-thirds (66%) have been under 65 years of age, and over half reported having a chronic health condition. Diabetes has been an underlying high-risk health condition reported in about a third of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

“Today we reached the grim milestone of 1,000 recorded deaths from COVID-19. Our most recent reported death died on September 18. Our first reported death was March 19. Please pause today with me for a moment of reflection and prayer for the 1,000 families who lost a loved one over that six month period and the thousands more who suffer with symptoms and recovery from COVID-19 as well as the emotional and financial turmoil that it has brought to our community.

Looking at the most recent data from the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, over the 179 day period from March 19 to September 13, more people died of COVID-19 than stroke or any other cause other than all forms of heart disease and all forms of cancer. If we were to extrapolate that death rate across a 365 day period, we would have over 2,000 deaths. Whether or not that occurs is largely up to you. I’m hopeful that with the decreases in hospitalizations, positivity rates, and new COVID-19 cases that we have seen since I put universal masking into effect in Dallas County in June and the Governor made that statewide in July, we will not see that happen. But, it’s up to all of us to wear our mask when outside our home, maintain six-foot distance, wash our hands frequently, avoid unnecessary trips and it’s best to avoid any indoor activity where masks cannot be worn one hundred percent of the time.

If we continue to make good choices as a community, things will get better and the next 179 days will be better for public health, for business, and for our children than the first 179 days. But our success is up to each and every one of you putting the public good over selfish desires to take part in the few activities that doctors tell us are not yet safe to participate in.

We received the provisional totals for CDC week 37 and again we saw a decrease (257) from the previous daily average (294) for CDC week 36. Remember that these daily averages change regularly as new cases that come in from the reporting system are assigned to their CDC week. So if you look at previous press releases, you’ll see different numbers from a few days ago regarding CDC week 36, which is why these numbers are provisional.

The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for COVID-19 remains at 10.0% which is high but is the same as it was last week. The provisional total of 179 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases for school-aged children during week 37 is another weekly increase from the previous week for this age group. Week 36 was 149 cases and week 35 was 189 cases,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]