Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 2 deaths and 1,860 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, Nov 19.  The county reported 1,164 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 113,764.

The county is also reporting a total of 10,403 probable cases and 22 probable deaths.

The additional deaths today include:

A woman in her 40’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. She had been critically ill in an area hospital  and had underlying high-risk health conditions.

A woman in her 80’s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.

The city of Sachse reported 16 new COVID-19 positive cases today, bringing their total to 628 positive cases. In Dallas County these include a 35, 81, 48, 38, 56, 28, 75, and 28-year-old female and 12, 15, 20, 46 and 49-year-old male. Collin County positive cases include a 18 and 43-year-old females and a 22-year-old male.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 45 has increased to 1,078, which is a rate of 40.9 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 15.3% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 45 (week ending 11/7/20).

A provisional total of 919 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 45, a three-fold increase from 5 weeks earlier (week ending 10/3/20). During the week ending 11/7/2020, ten K-12 schools in Dallas County initiated temporary closures of their campuses to in-person instruction due to COVID-19 cases.

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 24% 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 as part of determining the COVID-19 Risk Level (color-coded risk) and corresponding guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response. There were 670 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Wednesday, November 18. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 508 for the same time-period, 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.

“Today marks the second time this week that we’ve reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases with 1,860 being reported today, more than the 1,831 we reported just a few days ago. We are reporting two additional deaths as well, a woman in her 40’s and a woman in her 80’s. As we enter the holiday season, now is not the time to attend gatherings with friends and family who are not members of your household.  Instead, now is the time to make sacrifices for the greater good of our community. With the rise in cases and hospitalizations across our North Texas region, we must all do our part to stop the spread of this virus by wearing our masks, avoiding crowds, keeping at least six feet of distance and washing our hands regularly.  We know what to do, we just need to do it, and we must do it now,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]