Dallas County is reporting six more COVID-19 related deaths and 1,114 new confirmed cases of the infection Monday, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
The six latest victims of the virus include:
- A Dallas man in his 50s who did not have underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in a hospital ICU with the virus.
- A Dallas man in his 60s who had underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in a hospital ICU with the virus.
- A Dallas man in his 60s who did not have underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in a hospital ICU with the virus.
- A DeSoto man in his 70s who was a resident of a long-term care facility who did not have any underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in a hospital ICU with the virus.
- A Dallas man in his 70s who had underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in a hospital ICU with the virus.
- A Mesquite woman in her 90s who had underlying health conditions and was a resident of a long-term care facility. She died at an area hospital.
The 1,114 cases reported Monday is the 11th-straight day with cases topping 1,000. The 7-day average for new cases is now 1,123 cases per day, up from an average of 209 per day on June 1. In the last week, Dallas County has added 7,860 new cases of the virus.
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The county has now accumulated nearly 35,000 cases of the virus since testing began in March. There have been 457 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.
Dallas County officials said Monday that updated information on hospitalizations and ER visits from the weekend would be available on Tuesday.
"We continue to see over 1,000 new positive COVID-19 cases each day and we know there is still rampant community spread of this virus. It has been just over four months since we reported our first case in Dallas County and I know everyone is ready to find some sense of normalcy, even if that means our 'new normal.' However, you are much more likely now to come into contact with someone who has the virus than you were a few months ago during the Safer at Home orders," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "Whenever you leave your house, please take your mask, and wear it whenever you go in a store or business and whenever you are within six feet of someone outside your home. Remember, my mask protects you and your mask protects me. We are in this together and we will get through this together."
The increase in cases comes as the state's positivity rate, the percentage of people testing positive for the virus, has been sustained well over 10% for nearly three weeks and climbed to a new high above 16% on Saturday. An increase in the positivity rate indicates an increase in the spread of the virus, not an increase in testing for the virus.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, an estimated 17,369 people (through Sunday) in the county have recovered from the virus leaving an estimated 17,088 known patients fighting the infection.
County officials said last week more than half of the new cases reported have been young adults between the ages of 18 and 39.
To date, of cases requiring hospitalization who reported employment, 83% have been critical infrastructure workers, with a broad range of affected occupational sectors, including healthcare, transportation, food and agriculture, public works, finance, communications, clergy, first responders and other essential functions.
Of cases requiring hospitalization, two-thirds 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.
