Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 17 deaths and 1,993 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 for Jan 14.  The county reported 1,829 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 201,744.

The county is also reporting a total of 25,878 probable COVID cases.

The additional deaths reported include:

A woman in her 30’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 50’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 50’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. 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 Mesquite. 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 man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk heath 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 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 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 Garland. 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 Addison. She had been hospitalized in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 80’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Garland. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 90’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. 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 Highland Park. He expired in hospice and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 90’s who was a resident of the City of Desoto. She had been hospitalized and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 90’s who was a resident of long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. He had been hospitalized in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

The city of Sachse has reported 1,539 COVID-19 cases, including 31 today. New cases for the city of Sachse include, in Dallas County, a 16, 18, 25, 27, 41, 48, 61, 72 and 78-year-old female, as well as 21, 25, 27, 32, 34, 46, 49, 65 and 74-year-old male. Collin County residents include a 13, 22, 47, 48, 61, 76 and 77-year-old female and a 8, 19, 21, 21, 57 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 53 was to 2,227, which is a rate of 84.5 daily new cases per 100,000 residents, the highest case rate during this pandemic.  The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 31.0% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 53 (week ending 1/2/21). 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 7,310 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 674 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, with 1,842 of these cases reported during the last week of December.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 41 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among school nurses and nurse assistants. About half of these have been diagnosed within the past week.

There are currently 109 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 3,286 residents and 1,871 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 709 have been hospitalized and 378 have died. About 22% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities. Thirty-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 84 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. 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

Local health experts are using 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 1,204 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, January 13. The number of emergency room visits for COVID 19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 564 for the same time-period, which represents around 25 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council. This is another record high for hospitalizations. We are concerned we have not yet seen the full impact of the holiday surge. UTSW modeling predicts hospitalization could reach 1,170 – 1,900 by January 22, with cases as high as 3,600/day by the same date. Their model also indicates an increase in ICU utilization, which is concerning as capacity is extremely limited at current demand.

“Today we report 1,993 new COVID cases and 17 additional death, ranging in ages from a woman in her 30’s to several individuals in their 90’s. We continue to remain very concerned about the impact COVID is having on our hospital systems and healthcare heroes. With only 20 adult ICU beds available today in Dallas County, and the prediction of a tough January and February ahead, it’s critical that you follow the advice of the local doctors. Wear your mask around anyone outside of your immediate household. Wash your hands frequently.  Avoid crowds and get-togethers. Do your grocery shopping and support restaurants through curbside pickup or delivery. When the weather is nice, try and take advantage of that and exercise outdoors. We are all in this together and we will get through this North Texas,”said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]