Dallas County officials reported 9 deaths and 659 new cases of the coronavirus Friday, including the death of a 5-year-old boy.
Health officials said the boy lived in Dallas and had been critically ill in an area hospital. He also had underlying high-risk health conditions.
The addition of 659 cases has raised the number of positive cases in the county to 44,746.
The 9 additional deaths reported Friday include:
- A 5-year-old boy 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 man in his 40’s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 50’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He was found deceased at home and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 60’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 80’s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She expired in the facility and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 80’s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
There have been 586 deaths in Dallas County connected to the virus, which is now the third leading cause of death in the county behind heart disease and cancers.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Friday, "I believe we are beginning to see a positive trend due to the masking order that Dallas County implemented a month ago that was later followed by Governor Abbott and made statewide. The fact that our numbers are down though does not mean that we can afford to relax what we’ve been doing. One hundred percent mask wearing around other people outside your home is critical to our success going forward."
Jenkins went on to address the death of a 5-year-old boy, saying " Sadly today we announced the death of a 5-year-old child from #COVID19. This is our first pre-teen death here in Dallas County. I want to point out to the public that we have seen a sharp uptick in children getting #COVID19. We currently have over 1,450 children under age 18 who’ve tested positive since July 1. Parents, it’s imperative that children, like everyone else, follow the guidelines to stay safe."
A new COVID-19 testing location opened Monday at Mountain View College at 4849 West Illinois Ave. The center is in partnership with the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the city of Dallas.
The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. There are no residency requirements to be tested at the location, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
County officials said earlier this month an increasing proportion of new cases reported have been young adults between the ages of 18 and 39, including half of all cases reported since June 1.
The county said reports of cases continue to be associated with "multiple large recreational and social gatherings since the beginning of June."
Of cases requiring hospitalization, more than two-thirds have been under 65, 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.
*Map locations are approximate, central locations for the city and are not meant to indicate where actual infected people live.
