Health officials in Dallas County on Sunday reported 703 new cases of COVID-19 and the county's 1,099th coronavirus-related death.
The fatality reported Sunday was a Dallas man in his 70s who had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying health conditions, according to Dallas County Health and Human Services.
The 703 new cases added Sunday, 501 of which came from the Texas Department of State Health Services' electronic reporting system, is the highest daily total reported by Dallas County since late September.
The county reported 789 confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Sept. 29.
DCHHS reported 1,179 cases on Sept. 25, but 967 of those came from the DSHS reporting backlog. The county added 703 cases on Sept. 24.
Dallas County's provisional seven-day average of confirmed and probable cases by date of test collection climbed to 525 last week -- an increase over the previous week of 492.
The positivity rate in the county for patients who went to area hospitals with symptoms increased to 14.2%, while the number of school-aged children who tested positive also went up, according to DCHHS.
More than two-thirds of those hospitalized with COVID-19 have been under 65 years old, while diabetes is an underlying health condition in about one-third of hospitalized patients.
Of the 1,099 COVID-19-related deaths in Dallas County, about 24% have been associated with long-term care facilities.
