Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 18 deaths and 726 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 26. The county has reported 2,941 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 244,862.

The county is also reporting a total of 34,972 probable COVID cases.

Dallas County Health and Human Services is providing initial vaccinations to those most at risk of exposure to COVID-19. Since starting vaccinations, 45,643 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered at the Fair Park mega-vaccine clinic, which started operations on Monday, January 11.

The additional deaths reported include:

A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Coppell. He expired in hospice.

A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She expired in an area hospital Emergency Department and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 60’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 man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. 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 expired in hospice 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 hospitalized 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 70’s who was a resident of the City of Richardson. She expired at home and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He expired in a facility and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 70’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 70’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He expired at home.

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

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

The city of Sachse has reported 2,072 COVID-19 cases through today, Feb. 26. The new Dallas County cases include a 24 and 55-year-old-female and a 3, 44, 58 and 65-year-old male. New cases in Collin County include a 49-year-old male.

Four cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 have been identified in residents of Dallas County who did not have recent travel outside of the US. The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 6 was 657, which is a rate of 24.9 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 19.7% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 6 (week ending 2/13/21).

During the past 30 days, there were 3,894 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 628 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County. One death of a teacher in a Dallas County K-12 school from COVID-19 was confirmed this past week. A total of 466 children in Dallas County under 18 years of age have been hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic, including 37 patients diagnosed with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children (MIS-C). Over 80% of reported MIS-C cases in Dallas have occurred in children who are Hispanic or Latino or Black.

There are currently 85 active long-term care facility outbreaks. Accumulative total of 4,170 residents and 2,325 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 932 have been hospitalized and 579 have died. About 22% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities. Eleven 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. A cumulative total of 390 residents and 195 staff members in these types of facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

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 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 486 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Thursday, February 25. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 336 for the same time period, which represents around 14 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.

Updated UTSW forecasting indicates hospitalizations between 320-530 by March 9th and daily case counts of a 1,000.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]