Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 15 deaths and 1,974 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, Nov 20.  The county reported 1,177 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 113,764.

The county is also reporting a total of 10,731 probable cases and 24 probable deaths.

The additional deaths today include:

A man in his 40’s who was a resident of the City of Cedar Hill. He 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 Irving. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 50’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 man in his 50’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.

A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and didn’t have any underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 60’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 man in his 60’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 man in his 70’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 man in his 70’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 man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Balch Springs. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 70’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and didn’t have any underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 80’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 woman in her 90’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and expired in the facility.

A man in his 90’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

The city of Sachse reported 9 new COVID-19 positive cases today, bringing their total to 637 positive cases. In Dallas County these include a 30 and 34-year-old female and 26, 52, 55, 57 and 84-year-old male. Collin County positive cases include a 17 and 33-year-old females.

Over the past 30 days, there have been over 850 COVID-19 cases reported from 84 separate long-term care facilities, including 304 staff members. This is the highest number of long-term care facilities with active outbreaks reported in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic. Over the past 30 days, there have been 90 COVID-19 cases reported from 14 separate congregate-living facilities, including 22 staff members and one death of a staff member.

Since November 1, there have been over 116 COVID-19 cases in children and staff reported from 60 separate daycares in Dallas County. Since November 1, there have been 2,851 COVID-19 cases in schoolaged children and staff reported from over 558 separate schools in Dallas County, including 393 staff members.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 45 has increased to 1,078, which is a rate of 40.9 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 15.3% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 45 (week ending 11/7/20).

A provisional total of 919 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 45, a three-fold increase from 5 weeks earlier (week ending 10/3/20). During the week ending 11/7/2020, ten K-12 schools in Dallas County initiated temporary closures of their campuses to in-person instruction due to COVID-19 cases.

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 as part of determining the COVID-19 Risk Level (color-coded risk) and corresponding guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response. There were 707 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Thursday, November 19. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 503 for the same time-period, which represents around 20 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.

Hospitalizations over 700 are what we saw during the sustained peak in July. With unmitigated case spread, upcoming holidays, and flu activity beginning, we are extremely concerned about the impact on our hospital providers and their staff. Please do your part to reduce spread and prevent you or a loved one from ending up in the hospital.

“Today, Dallas County sets another new record for COVID positive cases with 1,974 cases and an additional 15 deaths. For the week thus far, we’ve reported 40 deaths, which medical modelers predicted as the cases began to rise several weeks earlier. When those same medical modelers predicted over 2,000 daily cases by Thanksgiving, many people jeered at their predictions saying they were alarmist and false. It is important to remember that the local medical modelers have been right thus far throughout the pandemic. They are telling us that without a modification of our behavior to stop getting together with people outside of our homes, the numbers will continue to rise and with it, more stress on the hospitals, death, and damage to our economy.

 As we approach this holiday week, we must think about what Thanksgiving is all about: being thankful for the many blessings that we have. We live in a tremendous country with great personal freedoms, but with freedom comes responsibility: responsibility to protect yourself, your family, and your community. In this country, we ask relatively little of our citizens compared to most of our allies. There is no draft, no forced military or government service, and no requirement to serve in the reserves. We have a volunteer military, and with our citizens, we ask that they pay taxes, answer the call for jury service, and obey the law. In this time of a worldwide pandemic and national emergency, we ask more of patriotic Americans. We ask that they follow the science, wear a mask, and avoid unnecessary crowds. When you consider the sacrifices of our healthcare heroes, our first responders, and those that have served this country in the military and in other roles, it is a small price to pay to protect America and our community.

We must move to a spirit of community sacrifice, forgoing those things that we treasure to protect those things that we treasure more. COVID will not always be with us but it’s with us this Thanksgiving and it will be with us this Christmas and Hanukkah. It’s up to us to respond to the threat in a way that we and our children can look back on and be proud of your decisions as family, business and community leaders,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]