31 Deaths, 2,065 New COVID-19 Cases in Dallas County Friday

Dallas County is reporting 2,065 new COVID-19 cases Friday along with 31 more deaths.

The county said 1,139 COVID-19 patients were being treated for COVID-19 in county hospitals through Thursday night. They also reported 500 ER visits Thursday for people with COVID-19 symptoms. On Friday morning, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted there were 37 adult ICU beds available as of Jan. 21, 21 more than the day before.

Of the cases reported Friday, the county said 1,843 were confirmed cases and 222 were probable (antigen test) cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county from March 2020 to 215,443 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 28,283. The total of confirmed and probable cases in the county is now at 243,726. Over the last seven reporting days, Dallas County officials have announced 16,104 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus for an average of 2,301 per day.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins also said the county has confirmed three more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, which is 70% more contagious than the original strain of COVID-19.

County officials said Friday there have been 1,975 deaths in the county attributed to the virus since March 2020. The 31 victims announced Friday included people whose ages ranged from their 40s to their 90s.

• A woman in her 40s 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 woman in her 50s 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 50s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 50s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 50s 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 50s 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 60s 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 60s 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 60s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s 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 man in his 70s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He died in an area hospital ED and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 70s 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 70s who was a resident of the City of Garland. She died in an area hospital.
• A man in his 70s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70s 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 70s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 70s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She died in the facility.
• A man in his 70s 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 80s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80s who was a resident of the City of University Park. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He had been hospitalized.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80s 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 woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Garland. She died in the facility.
• A woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. She died in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 90s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He died in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. He had died in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 90s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. He was hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She died in the facility.
• A man in his 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. He died in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.

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.

"In the last few weeks, we’ve been able to vaccinate over 18,500 North Texans, almost all of them over the age of 75, at our Fair Park hub. That’s a success by any measure. Every day we get better and next week we’ll begin to see our first few appointments for people over 65 with certain high-risk conditions," Jenkins said. "With over 300,000 people on the list and more signing up every day, it will be a while before everyone who wants and needs a vaccine can get one. Please know that we are working every day to get better at the delivery of this vaccine and are committed to an equitable distribution of this vaccine, taking it to the most vulnerable populations, so that we can prevent many hospitalizations and save as many lives as possible."

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 which would allow more people to be vaccinated more quickly.

"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.