Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 15 deaths and 1,243 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, Dec. 28.  The county reported 1,580 total deaths to date. The total confirmed cases are 167,900.

The county is also reporting a total of 20,223 probable cases.

The additional deaths include:

A man in his 40’s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He expired in hospice care 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 50’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Garland. 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 a long-term care facility in 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 Lancaster. 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 Farmers Branch. 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 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She expired in hospice care and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high risk health conditions.

A woman in her 70’s who was a 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 70’s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 70’s who was a who was a resident of the City of Rowlett. He expired in hospice care and had underlying high risk health conditions.

A man in his 80’s who was a who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He expired in hospice care and had underlying high risk health conditions.

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

The city of Sachse has reported 1,098 COVID-19 cases as Dec. 28 for both Collin and Dallas County residents of the city. New cases for Dallas County include a 50-year-old female and an 15, 55 and 56-year-old male. New Collin County cases include 4, 16, and 38-year-old female and a 21-year-old male.

The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 50 was to 1,722, which is a rate of 65.3 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 remains high, with 23.3% of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals testing positive in week 50 (week ending 12/12/20). Since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,864 healthcare workers and first responders have been reported with COVID-19 in Dallas County.

Over the past 30 days, there have been 4,955 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 764 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 692 staff members. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 21 school nurses have been diagnosed with COVID-19. There are currently 100 active long-term care facility outbreaks. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 2,696 residents and 1,590 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 640 have been hospitalized and 323 have died. About 22% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long term care facilities. Thirty-nine outbreaks of COVID-19 in congregate-living facilities (e.g. homeless shelters, group homes, and halfway homes) have been reported in the past 30 days associated with 172 cases, including six hospitalizations. One facility has reported 93 COVID-19 outbreak cases since October.

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.

“Today we add 1,243 cases and announce 15 more deaths in the battle against COVID. We began the day with 27 available adult ICU rooms in all of Dallas County hospitals. UT Southwestern projects that our hospital numbers will be somewhere between our current level and up to 1,500 COVID cases in the hospitals on January 5. If we get to the highest end of this number, we will run through ICU beds and be forced to have less than optimum care.

To help our healthcare heroes help you, please make smart decisions and follow doctors’ advice this New Year’s season. Wear your mask when around people you don’t live with and avoid crowds and get togethers. We must all think of ways to celebrate the New Year that are safe, not just for us, but for those who will inevitably catch the virus from the people who contract it this New Year’s. It may not be you, but your grandmother or someone else’s grandmother who pays a heavy toll for your decision to have a traditional New Year’s celebration. Please help make the small sacrifice of patriotism to keep our community and our country strong until everyone who wants the vaccine can get it and it can have its opportunity to protect them from the virus,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]