The Dallas County Health Department is reporting another 510 cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus Tuesday along with four more deaths attributed to the virus.
Of the 510 cases reported, 472 were confirmed and 38 were probable, according to Dallas County Health and Human Services. DCHHS said 268 of the cases came from the DSHS backlog though all were from earlier this month.
“We are seeing a continual increase in the number of COVID-19 cases confirmed by testing each day and by the number of people that are showing up at our hospitals as the numbers in the chart from CDC week 41 indicate," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "We know what to do to curb the spread of coronavirus: masking and avoiding crowds, six-foot distance and handwashing. We just need to do it. As we’ve seen before and are about to see again, absent a drastic change in behavior, the numbers go up very rapidly but go down slowly. We do not want to be at a place with a high COVID-19 infection rate when the temperatures turn cold and more people are forced inside so please do your part to flatten the curve."
The additional 4 deaths being reported Tuesday include the following:
- A man in his 30s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Richardson. 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 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 man in his 70s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
The county has now accumulated 90,790 confirmed cases of the virus since testing began in March. No new deaths were reported Monday; there have been 1,089 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.
COVID-19 TRACKING AND TESTING
Last week, 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.
