Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 7 deaths and 541 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, Nov 23.  The county reported 1,192 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 119,483.

The county is also reporting a total of 11,244 probable cases and 27 probable deaths.

The additional deaths today include:

A man in his 40’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He 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.

A woman in her 60’s who was a resident of the City of Lancaster. 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 Grand Prairie. 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 Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 80’s who was a resident of the City Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

The city of Sachse has not reported new cases since Friday.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 46 has increased to 1,321, which is a rate of 50.1 daily new cases per 100,000 residents—the highest case rate in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 has increased, with 16.8% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 46 (week ending 11/14/20).

A provisional total of 1,224 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 46, a three-fold increase from 5 weeks earlier (week ending 10/10/20). Since November 1, there have been 2,851 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from over 558 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 393 staff members. A total of 1,224 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 46 — which is 50% more than the number of cases in this age group reported during the second highest peak week of cases in July (Week 28). Since November 1, there have been over 116 COVID-19 cases in children and staff reported from 60 separate daycares in Dallas County.

Over the past 30 days, there have been over 850 COVID-19 cases reported from 84 separate long-term care facilities, including 304 staff members. This is the highest number of long-term care facilities with active outbreaks reported in Dallas County since the beginning of the pandemic. Over the past 30 days, there have been 90 COVID-19 cases reported from over 14 separate congregate-living facilities, including 22 staff members and one death of a staff member.

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 23% 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. Due to weekend reporting, new data will be available on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.

“Our numbers of new positive cases are much lower today and this is an accurate number that does not reflect a lack of reporting by any group. While this is good news, it’s too early to call it a trend. We also are reporting seven additional deaths today, ranging in ages from a man in his 40’s up to a man in his 80’s.

As we prepare for our Thanksgiving celebrations, we all have much to be thankful for. This year, it is my hope that everyone have a meaningful Thanksgiving. We recognize that this Thanksgiving will be different from Thanksgivings in the past as doctors and I hope you will spend it with the smallest amount of people possible, ideally just the people that you live with. This is one of the ways, along with forgoing Black Friday shopping experiences (except for online), and modifying other behaviors such as grocery shopping to take advantage of curbside pickup and other contactless options, that we must do out of a spirit of sacrifice, patriotism and community concern to protect the vulnerable and our economy until the vaccine is widely disseminated and has its effect. 

COVID will not be with us forever and next Thanksgiving will look like Thanksgivings in the past but the actions we take now could determine whether we have a full complement of the people that we are thankful for in our upcoming celebrations. So please, do all that you can to follow the doctors’ advice and stay safe this holiday season,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]