With three more deaths and 1,304 new COVID-19 cases added Wednesday that are not part of a backlog, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins says the county is staring down the barrel of the largest spike of infections seen yet with three straight days of new cases numbering more than 1,000.
Of the cases reported Wednesday, the county said 926 were confirmed cases and 378 were probable cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county from March to 105,377 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 8,931.
None of the new cases were reported to be part of a backlog and, rather, indicate all currently active cases in the county.
"Today, we have 1,304 new COVID cases and three additional deaths. Over the last 10 days, five of those days have been above 1,000 cases a day. Yesterday, we saw the second-biggest jump in hospitalizations for COVID that we’ve experienced thus far," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "We are at a very dangerous point in the fight against COVID. We are staring down the barrel of the largest spike that we have seen to date in COVID cases."
"Please heed the public health warnings and stay home beyond necessary trips outside the home. Avoid all social gatherings, especially bars, indoor restaurants, house parties where masking and distancing may be relaxed," DCHHS officials.
The latest victims of the virus include a man in his 60s from Dallas who had been hospitalized in the ICU for the disease and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions; a man in his 70s from Dallas who had been hospitalized in the ICU for the disease and did have underlying high-risk health conditions; a woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in Dallas and who had high-risk health conditions. She died at the facility.
County officials said Wednesday there have been 1,138 confirmed deaths in the county attributed to the virus and another 19 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.
The county added that the provisional 7-day average for new confirmed and probable cases by date of test collection for CDC week 44 has increased from a high of 740 to 779, or 30 cases per 100,000 residents. During the same week, a provisional total of 577 confirmed and probable cases diagnosed in school children between the ages of 5 and 17 increased to 608 cases -- almost a two-fold increase over a month before.
