Dallas County Health and Human Services reported one death and 589 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, today, Oct 15.  The county has reported 1,059 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 88,625.

The county is also reporting a total of 4,476 probable cases and 13 probable deaths.

The total new cases today include 324 from Texas Department of State Health Services for May (2), June (2), September (3) and October (316).

The death being reported in Dallas County a man in his 70’s who was a resident of the city of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did 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 40 was 374, an increase from the previous daily average of 346 for CDC week 39. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 10.0% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 40.

A provisional total of 283 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 40 (week ending10/03/2020), 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 12% 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 376 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, October 14. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 472 for the 24-hour period ending on Wednesday, October 14, which represents around 18 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.

“Today we’re reporting a total of 589 cases, 581 of which are new, including 52 positive antigen tests which are coded as ‘probable.’ For ease of understanding the numbers, antigen tests are coded as probable and PCR tests are coded as confirmed. Please note that we have moved back into the ‘Red’ in our color-coded chart/COVID 19 risk for extreme caution and staying safe and staying home whenever possible.

It’s critical with the uptick and the increases that we’ve seen in our hospitals, including a doubling of COVID-19 cases in hospitals over the last month for our region, that we all make good choices to turn the tide and get our numbers going in a good direction again. We are on the beginning of a second wave of COVID-19 cases if we do not modify behavior, and with talk of bars opening and increased capacity in other commercial buildings, there is a false sense of security. Given that our numbers are going in the wrong direction, we must turn things around now.

Wear your mask, maintain six-foot distance, wash your hands and avoid large crowds. For a complete list of recommendations under ‘Red’ on the color-coded chart, go to www.DallasCountyCOVID.org. It’s up to all of us to flatten the curve and we must do that now, during a time when our weather is pleasant. If we are at a high number going into the cold months of winter when everyone is indoors, we will have a very bad winter and spring or COVID-19,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]