The Dallas County Health Department is reporting 1,269 new COVID-19 cases Friday along with two more deaths, bringing the county’s total number of confirmed cases since March to more than 100,000 infections.
With two more deaths and 1,401 new COVID-19 cases added Tuesday that are not part of a backlog, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins says the county is entering the "most dangerous phase" of the pandemic seen so far.
Of the cases reported Tuesday, the county said 1,267 were confirmed cases and 134 were probable cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county since March to 104,451 and the probable number to 8,553.
None of the new cases were reported to be part of a backlog and, rather, indicate all currently active cases in the county.
"Today’s total of 1,401 new COVID-19 cases is the largest we have ever seen other than days when large backlogs were recorded. Additionally, the preliminary numbers for hospitalizations across both the region and the county show one of the highest one-day jumps we have ever seen," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "We are entering the most dangerous phase we have seen to date in the COVID crisis. Please do your part. I know that we can turn this around and save lives together but it takes all of us"
"Our COVID-19 outbreak is spiking dangerously. We are 7-10 days away from reaching our highest COVID hospitalization census to date if we do not immediately renew our resolve and change our behaviors," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins says.
The latest victims of the virus include a woman in her 60s from Dallas who had been hospitalized in the ICU for the disease and had underlying high-risk health conditions and a man in his 70s from Dallas who was found deceased at home.
County officials said Friday there have been 1,134 confirmed deaths in the county attributed to the virus and another 18 probable deaths. In the summer, Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang said COVID-19 is the third leading cause of death in the county behind diseases of the heart and cancers.
The county added that the 7-day average for new confirmed and probable cases by date of test collection for CDC week 44 was high at 740, or 28.4 cases per 100,000 residents. During the same week, a provisional total of 577 confirmed and probable cases were diagnosed in school children between the ages of 5 and 17 -- almost a two-fold increase over a month before.
