Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 20 deaths and 2,590 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 for Jan 7.  The county reported 1,735 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 186,181.

The county is also reporting a total of 23,211 probable COVID cases.

The additional deaths include:

A man in his 30’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 40’s who was a resident of the city of Mesquite. She expired in an area hospital ED and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 40’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 Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in 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 Garland. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 60’s who was a resident of the city of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk conditions.

A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the city of Mesquite. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 60’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 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 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 conditions.

A woman in her 70’s who was a resident of the city of Seagoville. 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 Mesquite. 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 a long-term care facility in 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 Desoto. 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 Farmers Branch. He 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 expired in an area hospital ED and had underlying high risk conditions.

A man in his 80’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 her 80’s who was a resident of the city of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had 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.

The city of Sachse has reported 1,352 COVID-19 cases through today, including 34 new cases for both Collin and Dallas County residents of the city. New cases in the Dallas County portion of Sachse include a 24, 36, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 61and 62-year-old female and a 10, 18, 19, 22, 28, 30, 33, 37, 58, 59 and 66-year-old male. New cases in the Collin County part of Sachse include a 30, 50, 50 and 66-year old female and a 7, 17, 17, 48, 49, 59, 61 and 70-year-old male.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 52 was to 1,637, which is a rate of 62.1 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 27.2% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 52 (week ending 12/26/20). Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 3,864 healthcare workers and first responders have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Dallas County.

Over the past 30 days, there have been 5,309 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 677 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 454 staff members.

There are currently 106 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. This year, a total of 3,201 residents and 1,808 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 688 have been hospitalized and 361 have died. About 22% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities. Forty 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 99 cases. One facility has reported 93 COVID-19 outbreak cases since October.

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. New cases are being reported as a daily aggregate, with more detailed summary reports updated Tuesday and Friday evenings are available at: https://www.dallascounty.org/departments/dchhs/2019-novel-coronavirus/daily-updates.php

There were 1,166 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, January 7. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 592 for the same time-period, which represents around 23 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council. We once again see record highs locally and at a regional level.

Health officials have indicated that while it is not unusual to see delays in accessing care over holiday weekends and then increasing demand the following week, they remain concerned about further increases in the following weeks due to multiple weeks of holiday gatherings.

Officials are asking that if you gathered over the holiday, especially in crowded indoor settings, even with no confirmed COVID exposure, to take precautions to reduce spread by staying home, masking if you must leave for essential activities, monitoring for symptoms, getting tested, and especially staying away from vulnerable or elderly family members and friends until you are certain you do not have COVID.

“Today we add 2,590 new COVID positive cases and 20 deaths to our count. One notable death today is a man in his 30’s who had been ill in an area hospital with COVID but had no underlying high-risk health conditions. This is a somber reminder that COVID can strike everyone and can cause grave illness and potentially death to anyone.

January and February are modeled to be our worst months for COVID positive cases and deaths assuming that the population continues to make good choices and avoid crowds throughout that time and in the following months. If we’ll do that, we’ll begin to see the benefits of the people who have been vaccinated thus far, both in the capacity of our healthcare heroes to be at work and not be sick with COVID and with our most at risk residents being protected from COVID. We’ll continue to improve and get back to our pre COVID activities, but it takes all of us making good, smart decisions to make that happen by wearing your mask, washing your hands and avoiding crowds.

We are working feverishly to get the sites open that will increase vaccination to our 1B population next week. It will be an effort led by Dallas County but with the help of EMTs from all of our cities. The shots are by appointment only and those who come without an appointment will be turned away. The only persons who will receive those appointments are people who sign up on the Dallas County registration website. Once you have signed up, you need not do anything else to be on the Dallas County list and you may not hear from us for some time as the list is worked based on the doctors’ calculations of the persons on the 1A and 1B list that are most vulnerable to a bad outcome should they get COVID. At this current point for vaccinations, the key is to be both patient and diligent. Patient in understanding that there’s not enough vaccine to vaccinate everyone immediately but diligent in making sure you sign up for the registration list and any other list that you may be entitled to be a part of such as with your healthcare provider,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]