Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 30 deaths and 2,088 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, Dec 10.  The county reported 1,299 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 139,950. Of all Dalls County COVID-19 hospitalizations, one-third are in ICU and one-fifth are on ventilators.

The county is also reporting a total of 14,426 probable cases and 48 probable deaths.

The additional deaths today include:

A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. 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 Dallas. 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 Seagoville. 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 Desoto. She 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 woman in her 60’s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. She 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 Garland. She 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.

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.

A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He expired in an area hospital ED 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.

A man in his 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.

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 woman in her 60’s who was a resident of a long term care facility in 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 of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 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 of Dallas. 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 Dallas. 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 Duncanville. She 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 did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized 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 did not have 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 did not have 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 did not have 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 man in his 80’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 80’s who was a resident of long term care facility in the City of Dallas. She expired in the facility 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 did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

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

A man in his 90’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.

The city of Sachse has reported 857 COVID-19 cases through yesterday, Dec. 10 for both Collin and Dallas County residents of the city. Dallas County cases include a 9, 20, 24, 25, 26, 28, 35, 60 and 62-year-old female and a 16, 17, 22, 24, 41, 45, 53, 65 and 66-year-old male. Collin County cases include a 20, 25, 27 and 61-year-old female and a 18, 31, 38, 41, 43, 44, 46, 49, 50, 52 and 66-year-old male.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 48 has increased to 1,117, which is a rate of 42.4 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 22.3% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 48 (week ending 11/28/20).

Over the past 30 days there have been 4,520 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from over 735 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 681 staff members. Of these cases, 534 have been associated with extracurricular activities, including athletics.

There are currently 101 active long-term care facility outbreaks. 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, a total of 857 COVID-19 cases have been reported from these facilities, including 328 staff members. Of these cases 38 have been hospitalized, and 30 have died, including 2 deaths of staff members. Twenty-four outbreaks of COVID-19 in congregate-living facilities (e.g. homeless shelters, group homes, and halfway homes) have been reported in the past 30 days associated with 155 cases, including 5 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. One facility has reported 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.

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 800 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, December 9. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 552 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.

On December 3, Trauma Service Area E (TSA E), which includes Dallas County and the greater Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, reached seven consecutive days where the percentage of COVID-19 confirmed patients in regional hospitals, as a percentage of available hospital beds, exceeded 15 percent. According to Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA-32 (GA-32), this makes TSA E an area with high hospitalizations and certain occupancy reductions are automatically triggered by reaching this threshold.

“Today we announce 2,088 new COVID positive cases and 30 additional deaths. These numbers are yet again a grim reminder of the need for shared sacrifice and patriotism from everyone as we work to keep our community and our country strong until the vaccine is widely administered and we can achieve the ‘herd immunity’ that will only be available when the vast majority of Americans have been vaccinated.

Think of your mask and your smart decisions to avoid crowds and forgo get-togethers as the vaccine that is available to all of us now. Think of our healthcare providers’ pleas for you to avoid crowds and forgo get togethers, not as an abridgement to your individual liberty, since ultimately it is up to you to decide whether you will listen to their pleas, but rather as an opportunity for small sacrifices and patriotism that protects not only you and your family but people that you don’t even know. We know that with each outbreak, the disease will spread to more and more people. Although our tracing in Texas is not robust enough to ascertain who gets an infection three or four separations after an outbreak in a family or business, in countries and in places where that is possible, we know that almost all infections eventually spread to a person who is ill-equipped to handle the virus and pays a high price.

Please everyone, do your part and stay in the fight by practicing good self-care. The six tenants of self-care are: getting adequate sleep, eating right, exercise, spending time with the people that you love, and two that you may not think of intuitively, finding something that makes you laugh every day and engaging in intentional thankfulness. When we are thankful, we tend to crowd out negative feelings and we do have so much to be thankful for, even in the face of this pandemic. I’m thankful for you and the smart decisions I know you will make as we work together to protect our community and our country at this time of high spread,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]