Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 4 deaths and 199 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, today, Sep. 27.  The total case count in Dallas County jumped to 81,175 with 1,020 total deaths to date.

The total number of probable cases in Dallas County is 3,924, including 13 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The total new cases today include 18 from Texas Department of State Health Services all for September.

The additional 4 deaths being reported today in Dallas County are:

A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Carrollton. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

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

A woman in her 90’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She was found deceased at home 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 38 was 296, an increase from the previous daily average of 258 for CDC week 37. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 11.9% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 38.

A provisional total of 225 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 38 (week ending 9/19/2020), 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% for the month of September.

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.

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 321 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Friday, September 25. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 341 for the 24-hour period ending on Friday, September 25, which represents around 14 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.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins did not issue a statement today.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]