Dallas County Reports 239 New Positive 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases

DALLAS, TX – Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) is providing initial vaccinations to those most at risk of exposure to COVID-19 and over 461,000 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered at the Fair Park mega-vaccine clinic, which started operations on Monday, January 11. Vaccine operations for both first and second doses at Fair Park are open with extended hours until 8:00 pm today.

The additional deaths being reported today include the following:

•  A man in his 40’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 man in his 60’s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. He 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 Irving. He expired at home and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 60’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 70’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Lancaster. She expired at home and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Desoto. He expired in a facility 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 hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He was found deceased and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Garland. He expired in hospice care and had underlying high-risk health conditions.

To date, a total of 81 cases with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern have been identified in residents of Dallas County, including: 69 cases of variant B.1.1.7; seven B.1.429 variants; two B.1.526 variants; two P.1 variants; and one P.2 variant. Five have been hospitalized with 3 requiring intensive care unit admission, and one has died. Seven had history of recent domestic travel outside of Texas. One case of B.1.1.7 is a likely instance of reinfection with COVID-19, occurring over 6 months after an initial PCR-confirmed infection. The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 17 was 214, which is a rate of 8.2 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. Of symptomatic patients presenting to area hospitals in week 17 (week ending 5/1/21), 10.8% of respiratory specimens tested positive SARS-CoV-2.

During the past 30 days, there were 1,106 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 417 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County. There are currently 31 active long-term care facility outbreaks. A cumulative total of 4,370 residents and 2,462 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 1,089 have been hospitalized and 775 have died. About 20% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities. Twelve 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. A cumulative total of 598 residents and 221 staff members in congregate-living facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

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. New cases are being reported as a daily aggregate, with more detailed summary reports updated Tuesday and Friday evenings, available at https://www.dallascounty.org/departments/dchhs/2019-novel-coronavirus/daily-updates.php.

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 165 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on May 11. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 425 for the same time-period, which represents around 14 percent of all emergency department visits in the county. Vaccination is the best way to prevent illness and hospitalization from COVID, protect yourself and your loved ones by getting vaccinated as soon as possible. Updated UTSW forecasting reflects a minor decrease within their model with hospitalizations between 140-220 and daily case counts of 210 by May 24th. If vaccination rates continue to increase, hospitalizations within the model remain low. With a slower pace of vaccination and reduced personal protective measures, the model shows growth. You can find additional information on risk-level monitoring data here.