Five more COVID-19 deaths are being reported in Dallas County Friday, including four senior residents of long-term care facilities, this according to county health officials who also announced another 71 infections.
The latest victims include a Garland man in his 70s who was being treated in a local hospital. The four other victims include a woman her 80s, a man in his 80s and two women in their 90s, all of whom were residents of long-term care facilities and died while being treated at a hospital.
"Of the five deaths today, four were nursing home residents," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "We must do all we can to protect our must vulnerable and push more testing into high uninsured neighborhoods where underlying health conditions are more prevalent."
Jenkins added the county's new Parkland Mobile Testing Unit performed 152 tests in one nursing home on Thursday and is out performing more tests Friday.
County health officials also confirmed another 71 COVID-19 cases, bringing the county's total number of confirmed cases to 2,834.
Of cases requiring hospitalization in Dallas County, most have been either over 60 years of age or have had at least one known high-risk chronic health condition. Diabetes has been an underlying high-risk health condition reported in about a third of all hospitalized patients with COVID-1.
The county has now recorded 77 deaths related to the pandemic. The county previously said about one-third of all deaths were among people living in long-term care facilities.
Dallas County is not reporting numbers of those who have recovered from the virus, saying it's not a surveillance variable being used nationally by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or state health departments.
Tracking COVID-19 Cases in North Texas Counties
NBC 5 is tracking the number of COVID-19 related cases, recoveries and deaths in North Texas counties. Choose a county and click on a city or town to see how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting your area.
Cases are cumulative by day and are subject to change, dependent on each county health department's reporting schedule and methodology. Data may be reported county-wide, by city or town, or not at all. Cases, recoveries and death counts in 'unspecified' categories are used as placeholders and reassigned by their respective counties at a later date.
Data: County Health Departments, NBC 5 Staff
Nina Lin/NBC
