Dallas County Health and Human Services reported four deaths (including one probable) and 1,509 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, Oct 31 and Nov 1.  The county has reported 1,117 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 97,398.

The county is also reporting a total of 5,994 probable cases and 15 probable deaths.

The total new cases include 723 from Texas Department of State Health Services, all in October, except four from September.

The additional four deaths reported today are:

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 his 70’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 80’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 60’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.

The city of Sachse is expected to report a case update on Monday.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 43 has increased to 652 — the highest daily average of new cases since July. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased to 15.4% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 43 (week ending 10/24/20). A provisional total of 587 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 43 – over twice the numbers of children diagnosed in this age group 4 weeks earlier (CDC week ending 9/26/2020).

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 24% 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. Due to weekend reporting, new data will be available on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]