The Dallas County Health Department is reporting two more deaths and 316 additional cases of COVID-19 Monday.
Of the 316 cases reported Monday, Dallas County Health said 177 came from the Texas DSHS backlog with two cases coming from August and 175 from earlier this month.
The two new deaths reported by the county include:
- A man in his 50s who was a resident of Dallas. He 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 Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
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Last week Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said that although Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is allowing for restaurants and other businesses to allow more patrons inside, he is urging the community not to look at what is permissible, but rather what is safe. This week he continued to urge people to choose outdoor dining rather than indoor and to continue to follow masking and spacing protocols when shopping inside area businesses.
"Your vigilance in making good decisions to protect you, your family and public health is absolutely essential to keeping less people from getting sick, helping more businesses and jobs to thrive and more kids to get back to school sooner rather than later," Jenkins said.
The county has now accumulated 78,205 cases of the virus since testing began in March. With 70,929 estimated recoveries being reported by the state through Monday, there are roughly 6,279 active cases in Dallas County. There have been 997 confirmed deaths attributed in the county to the virus, which, according to Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang, is now the third leading cause of death in the county behind diseases of the heart and cancers. Since March 20, the date of the first reported COVID-19 related death in Dallas County, the county has averaged 5.5 deaths per day.
COVID-19 TRACKING AND TESTING
Last week the judge also noted a provisional total of 156 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in school-aged children (ages 5-17) during CDC Week 37, an increase from the previous week for this age group. Jenkins said Friday the percentage of cases occurring in young adults aged 18-22 increased to 14% over the last two weeks.
