Dallas County is reporting a jump in emergency room visits related to COVID-19 Wednesday along with 16 more deaths and 1,029 new confirmed cases of the infection.
Dallas County officials said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that "emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms in Dallas County increased by almost 200 to 786" in a 24-hour period ending Tuesday night. The county added there were currently 771 people in acute care being treated for COVID-19 infections.
"This is an extremely critical time in our battle against COVID-19. We expect to see more cases in the coming days and how high this surge goes is dependent on each of us doing our part," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
"Please wear your mask whenever around people outside your family and please take a face covering with you" Jenkins said Tuesday.
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Sixteen people whose ages ranged from their 20s to their 80s are among the latest North Texans to die after contracting the virus, some of whom, officials said, did not have underlying health conditions. The latest victims include:
- A Grand Prairie woman in her 20s who did not have underlying health conditions and who had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A Grand Prairie man in his 40s who did not have underlying health conditions and who had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A Farmers Branch woman in her 40s who had underlying health conditions and had been hospitalized.
- A Garland man in his 50s who had underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A Dallas woman in her 50s with underlying health conditions who died at the long-term care facility where she lived.
- A Grand Prairie woman in her 50s who had underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A Dallas man in his 60s who had underlying health conditions and had been hospitalized.
- A Coppell woman in her 60s who did not have underlying health conditions and died in a hospital emergency room.
- A Grand Prairie woman in her 60s who had underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A Dallas woman in her 70s who had underlying health conditions and had been hospitalized.
- A Grand Prairie woman in her 70s who had underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A Dallas man in his 70s who had underlying health conditions and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A Dallas woman in her 70s who had underlying health conditions and had been hospitalized.
- A Dallas man in his 80s with underlying health conditions died at the long-term care facility where he lived.
- A Mesquite woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility with underlying health conditions died after being hospitalized.
- A Garland woman in her 80s who had underlying health conditions and had been hospitalized.
The 1,029 cases reported Wednesday is the sixth-straight day with cases topping 1,000. The 7-day average for new cases is now 1,040 cases per day, up from an average of 209 per day on June 1. In the last week, Dallas County has added 7,278 new cases of the virus.
The county has now accumulated more than 29,100 cases of the virus since testing began in March. There have been 426 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.
The increase in cases comes as the state's positivity rate, the percentage of people testing positive for the virus, has been sustained for a week at about 13%. 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 15,367 people (through Tuesday) in the county have recovered from the virus leaving an estimated 13,367 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.
