The Dallas County Health Department is reporting 10 more COVID-19 deaths Thursday along with 230 new cases of the virus, the lowest number of new cases reported since June 1, along with another drop in the 7-day average of new cases.
The 10 latest victims of the pandemic include:
- A man in his 40s 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 50s 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 60s who was a resident of the City of Lancaster. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 60s who was a resident of the City of Irving. 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 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 woman in her 60s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She expired in an area hospital emergency room and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He 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 the City of Mesquite. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 80s who was a resident of the City of Garland. She had been hospitalized.
"Today’s numbers carry a somber reminder in the 10 deaths, one of whom was a person in their 40’s without underlying health conditions. We saw the same thing with another person yesterday," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "COVID-19 is a very dangerous disease for everyone and that’s why wearing a mask, maintaining a six-foot distance, regular hygiene and avoiding unnecessary trips is absolutely essential."
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The 230 new cases reported Thursday are the lowest number of new cases reported in more than two months when 228 cases were reported on June 1. The county's 7-day average of new cases dropped for the sixth straight day to 514 cases per day; the 14-day average, which ended a 10-day streak of declines on Wednesday, dropped from 657 cases per day to 627.cases per day.
Jenkins said the low cases reported Thursday are "strong evidence that the trend of universal masking is working and we cannot let up."
Jenkins said the demand for COVID-19 testing has gone down as well and testing is available at Dallas County locations with little or no wait and faster turnaround time. Dallas County testing sites can be found here: https://www.dallascounty.org/covid-19/testing-locations.php
Jenkins said through Wednesday night there were still 625 people in the county in acute care being treated for the virus and at over the same 24-hour period there were 583 ER visits in the county for people reporting COVID-19 symptoms.
The county has now accumulated 52,869 cases of the virus since testing began in March. There have been 736 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 5.3 deaths per day.
Of cases requiring hospitalization, two-thirds of all COVID-19 patients have been under 65 years of age, and about half do not have high-risk chronic health conditions. Diabetes has been an underlying high-risk health condition reported in about a third of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
The county has been reporting for several weeks now that more than a third of the deaths related to COVID-19 have been among residents of long-term care facilities.
