Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 12 deaths and 227 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 20. The county has reported 3,384 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 250,531.

The county is also reporting a total of 37,685 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, 195,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered at the Fair Park mega-vaccine clinic, which started operations on Monday, January 11.

Vaccine operations will resume Monday.

The additional deaths reported include:

A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She expired in an area hospital ED.

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 woman in her 70’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. 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 Balch Springs. He had been hospitalized 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 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 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 Grand Prairie. He expired in hospice care 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 expired in the facility.

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 Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

The city of Sachse has reported 2,142 COVID-19 cases through, March 19. New Dallas County cases include a 17 and 38-year-old female.

To date, a total of 14 cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 and one case of a B.1.526 variant have been identified in residents of Dallas County. One was hospitalized and five had history of recent domestic travel outside of Texas. The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 10 was 257, which is a rate of 9.7 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 6.9% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 10 (week ending 3/13/21).

During the past 30 days, there were 1,297 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 425 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County. There are currently 25 active long-term care facility outbreaks. A cumulative total of 4,255 residents and 2,359 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 1,002 have been hospitalized and 656 have died. About 22% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities. Thirteen 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 429 residents and 207 staff members in congregate-living 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 194 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Friday, March 19. The number of emergency room visits for COVID 19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 300 for the same time-period, which represents around 13 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.

Officials encourage everyone to follow public health guidance, continue masking and avoid crowded and non-essential indoor settings. Updated UTSW forecasting indicates hospitalizations between 180-290 and daily case counts of 560 by April 5.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]