Dallas County reported their 65th COVID-19 related death and an additional 81 new infections Wednesday, bringing the county's total number of cases to 2,683.
The latest victim is a man in his 60s from Grand Prairie who had been hospitalized while critically ill from the virus. It's not clear if the man suffered from any preexisting conditions.
"While we mourn the passing of our 65th Dallas County resident who has died from COVID-19, today’s numbers are encouraging as they are 10% lower than yesterday’s," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said on Twitter.
Of the 65 total deaths reported to date, the county said one-third of them have been associated with long-term care facilities. Two-thirds of the coronavirus deaths in Dallas County have been men.
One positive sign DCHHS reported in their bi-weekly aggregate report on Tuesday: hospital admissions and intensive care hospitalizations for the new coronavirus dropped last week for the first time in two weeks.
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
Dallas County Commissioners Tuesday voted 3-2 to extend the county's safer-at-home order until May 15, which keeps restrictions in place about which businesses may operate and how large public gatherings may be while advising people to stay at home unless they are conducting "essential business."
The county reserves the option to extend or reduce the order depending on how cases develop in the county in the coming weeks. The county's disaster declaration, a separate document, is in effect until May 20.
