27 Deaths, Nearly 2,000 New COVID-19 Cases in Dallas County Thursday

Dallas County is reporting 1,978 new COVID-19 cases Thursday along with 27 more deaths and 16 available ICU beds.

The county said 1,148 COVID-19 patients were being treated for COVID-19 in county hospitals through Wednesday night. They also reported 558 ER visits Wednesday for people with COVID-19 symptoms. On Thursday morning, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted there were 16 adult ICU beds available as of Jan. 20, one fewer than the day before.

Of the cases reported Thursday, the county said 1,412 were confirmed cases and 566 were probable (antigen test) cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county from March 2020 to 213,600 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 28,601. The total of confirmed and probable cases in the county is now at 241,661. Over the last seven reporting days, Dallas County officials have announced 16,032 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus for an average of 2,290 per day.

County officials said Thursday there have been 1,944 deaths in the county attributed to the virus since March 2020. The 27 victims announced Thursday included people whose ages ranged from their 30s to their 90s.

• A woman in her 30'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 Dallas. He died in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• 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 had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 50's who was a resident of the City of Cockrell Hill. He 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 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 Mesquite. 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 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 Rowlett. He died in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 60's who was a resident of the City of Cedar Hill. 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 died at home 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 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 and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70's who was a resident of the City of Lancaster. He had been hospitalized.
• A woman in her 70'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 70's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He died in an area hospital ED and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70'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 woman in her 70'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 Grand Prairie. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80'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 80's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Garland. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Richardson. She had been hospitalized and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Irving. She died in the facility.
• A woman in her 90's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. She had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90's who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She died in the facility.

COVID-19 VACCINE EFFORTS

In partnership with the state health department, Dallas County opened a large-scale vaccine hub at Fair Park earlier this month where they planned to administer up to 2,000 vaccines per day for those in Phase 1A and 1B. The vaccination center does not accept walk-ups and you must have an appointment to get vaccinated. Register for an appointment at the link below. The county is also planning on providing vaccines at two other locations in the county where they can administer an additional 1,000 vaccines per day.

On Thursday, Jenkins said the county is working hard to pinpoint the communities most in need of the vaccine where residents are statistically more likely to end up hospitalized should they contract the virus. A plan to reach out to those in certain ZIP codes was rescinded Wednesday after the state health department threatened to curtail future vaccine shipments if the county did not offer the vaccine to all eligible citizens equally.

"With over 300,000 people registered, and more registering every hour, and only 9,000 shots available at Fair Park each week, and a little over 30,000 shots available at all hub sites from UTSW, Baylor Hospital, City of Garland, DCHHS, and Parkland, there is much more demand than there are shots," Jenkins said Thursday.

The county judge hoped President Joe Biden's plan to administer 100 million shots in his first 100 days improves the allotments being sent to Texas.

"It’s also important in these darkest months when our hospitals are full, when our ICU beds are scarce, and when the spread is rampant, to wear your mask, wash your hands, avoid crowds and forgo get-togethers. If we all work together, we’ll begin to see an improvement in March and it will keep getting better as more and more people are vaccinated. But for now, all of us must do our part to make good decisions and to keep our community and our country strong until the vaccine can get us to herd immunity,” said Jenkins.

Want to Get on a Vaccine Waitlist?

County health departments have launched waitlists for adults 16 years old and over.

You can register to recieve the vaccination in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties. Links are below:

Waitlist Links: Collin - Search Waitlist | Dallas | Denton | Tarrant

You do not need to be a resident of the county to register for a COVID-19 vaccine in that county -- registration is open to anyone in Texas. For those without internet access, Tarrant County is also taking registrations by phone at 817-248-6299. In Dallas County, call the DCHHS vaccine hotline at 1-855-IMMUNE9 (1-855-466-8639). In Denton County, call 940-349-2585.

For a more detailed breakdown of who is included in each priority group in Texas, see this page from the Texas DSHS.

The vaccine is currently only being administered to those who are part of Phase 1A and 1B, as outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Those in Phase 1A are front-line healthcare workers or residents of long-term care facilities. Phase 1B includes those who are over the age of 65, or those over the age of 16 with a chronic medical condition that puts them at risk for severe illness.

Once vaccinated, people are expected to get some level of protection within a couple of weeks after the first shot, but full protection may not happen until a couple of weeks after the second shot. Even when fully vaccinated, it's still possible to become infected by the virus since the vaccine does not offer 100% protection.