Dallas County Health and Human Services reported two deaths, and 139 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, today, Sep. 8.  The total case count in Dallas County is 74,100 with 942 total deaths to date.

The total number of probable cases in Dallas County is 3,226, including 10 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The total new cases today include 63 from Texas Department of State Health Services in September.

The city of Sachse added three new COVID cases to its total. The 252^nd case is a 63-year-old man in Collin County. The 253^rd case is a 26-year-old woman in Dallas County. And the 254th is a 51-year-old woman in Dallas County.

The three additional deaths being reported yesterday (one) and today include:

A woman in her 50’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 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.

The provisional 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 35 has increased slightly to 244. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has also increased, with 10.8% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 35.

From August 15^th through 28^th, 317 school-aged children between 5 to 17 years of age were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Dallas County.  About 43% of these cases were high school age (14 to 17 years).  By zip code of residence, 167 (53%) of these children were projected to have been enrolled in Dallas ISD schools.

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 25% have been associated with long-term care facilities.

New cases are being reported as a daily aggregate, with a more detailed summary report updated Tuesdays and Fridays.  

Local health experts use hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ER visits as three of the key indicators in determining the COVID-19 Risk Level (color-coded risk) and corresponding guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response. There were 352 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Friday, September 4. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 438 for the 24 hour period ending on Friday, September 4, which represents around 20 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council. While these numbers represent a significant decline from record highs in July, the disruptive impact of COVID-19 on our populations and health care systems remains.

“Today we report a total of 139 new confirmed cases and three additional deaths. The lower number may be due to decreased reporting over the holiday weekend. Hopefully we won’t see a rise in cases from the holiday weekend if we all wore a mask, maintained six-foot distance, and avoided unnecessary trips and crowds. Today was the first day of school for Dallas ISD and many of our students here in Dallas County although many children experienced their first day of school this year online. With the decreasing numbers, I’m hopeful that more schools will be able to welcome back our youngest scholars soon, and if we keep the numbers down, that more and more kids will get the opportunity for in-person learning. It’s up to all of us for that to happen and the best way to keep our numbers trending lower is to wear a mask, maintain six-foot distancing, wash hands frequently, avoid unnecessary trips, and avoid places where people are not wearing their mask one hundred percent of the time,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]