Dallas County Health and Human Services reported one death and 638 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, today, Oct 13.  The county has reported 1,057 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 87,532.

The county is also reporting a total of 4,374 probable cases and 13 probable deaths.

The total new cases today include 328 from Texas Department of State Health Services for June (1), September (8) and October (319).

The death being reported in Dallas County 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 did have underlying high risk health conditions.

The provisional 7-day average daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 40 was 374. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 10.0% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 40.

A provisional total of 283 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 40 (week ending10/03/2020), an increase from the previous week for this age group. The percentage of cases occurring in young adults aged 18 to 22 years has increased to 12% for the month of September.

Of the cases requiring hospitalization to date, more than two-thirds (66%) have been under 65 years of age, and over half reported having a chronic health condition. Diabetes has been an underlying high-risk health condition reported in about a third of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

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 351 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Monday, October 12. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 385 for the 24-hour period ending on Monday, October 12, which represents around 17 percent of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.

“Today we see a large increase in the number of new COVID-19 positive cases. Remember that we are looking for weekly trends and not one day spikes; however, we saw the release of CDC week 40 in the Dallas County Health and Human Services summary report which was yet another increase in the number of positive cases. Our hospitalizations and ED visits are continuing to go up in the region and here in Dallas County and we are seeing a CDC week 40 climb in the number of children ages 5-17 who are contracting COVID-19 as well.  

Overall our schools are doing a good job with infection prevention, and many of our families are making good choices, but it’s up to all of us to make a choice to wear our mask when around people outside our home, maintain six-foot distance, wash our hands frequently, and avoid crowds. We want the numbers to flatten and begin to go down with this pleasant weather and as we enter the holiday season. Unfortunately, we are currently going in the wrong direction but I know together we can turn it around and get to a better place for the fall.” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]