Dallas County Health and Human Services reported seven deaths, and 152 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, today, Sep. 10.  The total case count in Dallas County is 74,628 with 964 total deaths to date.

The total number of probable cases in Dallas County is 3,320, including 10 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The total new cases today include 72 from Texas Department of State Health Services in September.

The city of Sachse reported its 256^th COVID-positive case, a 47-year-old Dallas County.

The seven additional deaths being reported today include:

A woman in her 40’s who was a resident of the City of DeSoto. She expired in an area hospital EDand had underlying high risk health conditions.

A pregnant woman in her 40’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She expired in an areahospital ED and did not have other underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Wilmer. He was found deceased at home andhad underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He was found deceased at home andhad underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 50’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She was found deceased at homeand had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He expired in an area hospital ED andhad underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He was found deceased at home andhad 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 was 277, slightly increased from the previous CDC week 34’s daily average of 238. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high with 10.8% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 35.

A provisional total of 156 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 35 (week ending 8/29/2020), a continued increased trend from the previous two weeks for this age group. Over the past 2 weeks, 31 cases of COVID-19 have been reported associated with multiple youth hockey teams in the DFW area, including 5 coaches. One 29-year old hockey coach was reported to have had COVID-19 at the time of his death last week in an adjacent county.

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 354 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, September 9. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 490 for the 24-hour period ending on Wednesday, September 9, which represents around 21 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 I’m sad to report the death of seven more county residents from COVID-19, including a pregnant woman in her 40s without other high risk health conditions. These deaths bring our total of confirmed COVID-19 deaths since March to 964. Today we report an additional 152 cases, all of which we categorize as new cases. All the cases from the state’s electronic laboratory reporting system we received today were tests from September.

Hopefully the number of positive cases today will begin a trend back lower as we’ve seen a rise in the last week of COVID-19 positive cases and the latest R0, pronounced R naught, seen in the UTSW chart show that our R0 may have recently gone above 1, which may lead to outbreaks and an increase in the number of cases in our community. A R0 score above one means there are more people getting sick from COVID-19 than just replacing those who have been sick. We and doctors of course will be watching all of these factors very closely.

Everyone has a role to play and it’s very important that you and everyone you have influence over wear their mask one hundred percent of the time when they’re around others outside the home, maintain six foot distance, wash hands frequently, avoid unnecessary trips, and avoid trips where masks cannot be worn one hundred percent of the time. If we all keep our resolve up, we can lower the infection rate and keep more people from getting sick, more businesses open, and get more kids back into school faster,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]