Dallas County added another 1,663 new cases of COVID-19 Monday along with three more deaths attributed to the virus.
Of the cases reported Monday, the county said 1,606 were confirmed cases and 57 were probable (antigen test) cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county from March to 136,283 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 13,552. Over the last seven days, Dallas County officials have confirmed 11,037 confirmed and probable cases of the virus.
"I’m seeing some signs that people are taking the warnings seriously and minimizing their time around others outside of their home," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a statement. "If we all will make incremental changes to improve our response to COVID, thinking not just about keeping ourselves safe, but about making our community and our country stronger until the vaccine can have its effect, we will come through this in as strong of a position as possible."
The three latest victims involved a man in his 60s from Dallas, a woman in her 80s from Lancaster and a man in his 90s from DeSoto. All three victims had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
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County officials said Monday there have been 1,237 confirmed deaths in the county attributed to the virus and another 39 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.
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The county said that the provisional 7-day average for new confirmed and probable cases by date of a test collection for CDC week 48 was 1,069, which is lower than recent weeks and represents a rate of 40.6 daily new cases per 100,000 residents.
Since Nov. 1 there have been 5,320 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from more than 770 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 849 staff members.
"This holiday season there is still so much to be thankful for even in this difficult year. I’m thankful for the opportunity to serve you and I’m thankful for the spirit of North Texas that consistently rises to meet its challenges and is meeting this challenge. We will get through this, and this worldwide pandemic, that has claimed the lives of more 280,000 Americans and damaged the local US and world economies, will end. When we do, I want each of us to be able to look back with pride and say that they made the little sacrifices and the changes in holiday traditions to do their part to keep their fellow person safe and their country strong during that difficult time,” said Jenkins.
