Dallas County Adds 480 Cases Friday, 20 More COVID-19 Deaths

The Dallas County Health Department is reporting another 480 cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus Friday along with 20 more deaths.

Of the 480 cases reported, 462 were confirmed and 18 were probable, according to Dallas County Health and Human Services. DCHHS said 235 of the cases came from the DSHS backlog. all from earlier this month.

“Sadly we report 20 deaths today, including a person in their 20’s and a person in their 40’s. One of the deaths of a person in their 50’s was of a person with no underlying high-risk health conditions.," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. The latest victims of the virus include:

• A man in his 20s who was a resident of the City of Carrollton. He was found deceased at home and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 40s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He expired in area hospital ED and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 40s 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 man in his 50s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He expired 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. 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 Seagoville. He had been critically ill in an area hospital.
• A man in his 70s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have 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 woman in her 70s 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 70s who was a resident of the City of DeSoto. She 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 Dallas. She 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 Dallas. He expired 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 man in his 80s 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 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 man in his 80s who was a resident of the City of Rowlett. He had been hospitalized and did not have 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 expired in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 90s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He had been hospitalized and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.

"We are unfortunately at a place where the numbers are moving against us and that movement is accelerating. It’s up to all of us to exercise personal responsibility. At this point, we know what to do, we just need to do it and do it immediately: wearing our masks, six-foot distance, frequent hand-washing and avoiding large crowds. This is not a time to relax as COVID-19 cases increase. It’s a time to renew our efforts at public health and wise decision making," Jenkins said.

Earlier in the day, during a news conference, Jenkins advised North Texans to avoid trick-or-treating this year, and other similar events, and called them a possible super-spreader activity.

"As we approach the Halloween holiday with cases increasing, it’s important that families make responsible decisions to do things within the family unit and not come into contact with many people outside their home. Doctors strongly encourage all residents to forgo trick or treating, trunk or treating, and Halloween parties and instead focus on candy hunts, Halloween themed family parties or movie nights, pumpkin carving and other things that can be done with the people that you live with. We must get this under control now or we are in for a rough holiday season and winter when the weather forces more people indoors which increases the chance of COVID-19 spread. We can do this North Texas but it’s up to each and every one of us. You’ve brought the numbers down twice before and you can do it again,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins said earlier this week that voting in person in Dallas County is safe and that the county has spent millions of dollars on disinfectants, plexiglass screens and other precautions to ensure that voters are safe. Voters can also see a live, color-coded map showing the approximate wait times at polling locations in Dallas County so that they can see which polls are least crowded and where voting can be done quickly. See the map here.

The county has now accumulated 88,834 confirmed cases of the virus since testing began in March. There have been 1,079 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.

County health officials said Friday the 7-day average for CDC Week 41 was 453, an increase from the previous daily average of 383 from Week 40. The county also said that 390 school-aged children were confirmed or probable during that same week, an increase of 32% for this age group over the previous week.

There were 353 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County for the period ending on Thursday, Oct. 15. The number of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County was 493 for the 24 hour period ending on Thursday, Oct.15, which represents around 18% of all emergency department visits in the county according to information reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council.