Dallas County Health and Human Services reported eight deaths and 1,179 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, Dec 1.  The county reported 1,218 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 127,786.

The county is also reporting a total of 12,191 probable cases and 36 probable deaths.

The additional deaths today include:

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 did not have any underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City Grand Prairie. 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 Irving. She 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 Grand Prairie. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in 70’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 70’s who was a resident of the City DeSoto. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

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

A man in 80’s who was a resident of the City DeSoto. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

The city of Sachse reported 24 new COVID-19 positive cases today, bringing their total to 745 positive cases. In Dallas County these include a 11, 39, 47, 56, 57, 82 and 82-year-old females and 30, 36, 37, 42, 43, 47 and 62-year-old males. Collin County positive cases include 36, 46, 53 and 92-year-old females and 40, 41, 50, 52, 54, 65 and 85-year-old males

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 46 has increased to 1,405, which is a rate of 53.3 daily new cases per 100,000 residents—the highest case rate in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased, with 17.0% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 46 (week ending 11/14/20).

A provisional total of 1,282 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 46, a three-fold increase from 5 weeks earlier (week ending 10/10/20). Since November 1, there have been 3,630 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from over 632 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 393 staff members. A total of 1,282 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 46 — which is 50% more than the number of cases in this age group reported during the second highest peak week of cases in July (Week 28). Since November 1, there have been over 130 COVID-19 cases in children and staff reported from 97 separate daycares in Dallas County.

There are currently 95 active long-term care facility outbreaks. Over the past 30 days, there have been over 798 COVID-19 cases reported in these facilities, including 309 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. Of these cases, 27 have died, including 2 deaths of staff members. Over twenty active clusters of cases in congregate-living facilities (homeless shelters, group homes, and halfway homes) have been reported in the past 30 days associated with 168 cases, including one facility this past week with 87 confirmed 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 23% 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 806 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Monday, November 30. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 467 for the same time period, which represents around 22 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council. As expected, we saw a decrease in visits over the holiday weekend, but the numbers reported Monday are approaching all-time highs for hospitalized patients. We remain concerned about a potential surge on our hospitals over the next few weeks, as we see the impact holiday gatherings may have on the spread of COVID-19. Please take extra caution and stay away from others if you did choose to gather over the long weekend.

“Today we have 1,179 new COVID positive cases and eight deaths. Most labs that did not report over the holidays or did not test for several days over the holidays are back online and tomorrow’s numbers should be representative of a typical day of testing.  

A report from Dr. Birx and the National Coronavirus Task Force, issued on November 22 and sent to Governor Abbott, was discovered by a watchdog group. The report contains recommendations for the Governor to act on including limiting crowd sizes at venues and businesses. These recommendations mirror the recommendations that the Public Health Committee, made up of local experts in infectious disease, epidemiology and public health in Dallas County, have been asking of Governor Abbott for over a month. It’s unknown whether the Governor will act or to what extent, but you need not wait for government action to recognize that the health experts on the national and the local level are telling us it is not safe to go to crowded places, we should avoid get-togethers with people outside our family, and we should wear our mask whenever around others.

Now is a time for shared sacrifice and forgoing the selfish but understandable desires that we have to do thethings that doctors tell us are just not safe for us, the community or the country. Now is a time for patriotism in doing things that not only will potentially protect you and your family, but that will protect and strengthen our community and our country. We won’t have to do this forever. The vaccine is coming but it’s not here yet and we must hold on a little bit longer. I hope we will keep our spirit of thanksgiving going throughout this holiday season. I know we’re thankful for our own families and I hope we all recognize that following the doctors’ scientific recommendations will protect not only your family but others you’ve never met and that is the foundation of patriotism: to protect your community and your country, even those you’ve never met. Let’s stop looking at our neighbors with the thought that they’re doing something wrong and we’re doing something better, and all ask ourselves how we can do a little better because incremental changes in our behavior can have a big impact on the spread of COVID,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]