After dropping into the 180s for the last two days, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Dallas County again topped 200 on Friday, county health officials say. The county is also reporting the deaths of four more people infected with the virus.
he latest victims to die after contracting the virus include:
- A man in his 50s who was a resident of Dallas and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A woman in her 70s who was a resident of Dallas and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A man in his 70s who was a resident of Dallas and had been critically ill in an area hospital.
- A man in his 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in Irving and had been hospitalized.
The four latest deaths bring the county's total to 207 and come three days after the county posted their largest single-day total of 14 deaths. The previous high was 10 deaths in a single day, reached three separate times on April 14, April 28 and May 8. Of all the deaths reported by the county to date, over a third have been associated with long-term care facilities.
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The county also said there were 204 new positive cases of the virus in the county, a slight uptick in new cases over the last two days were new case counts had dropped into the 180s. There have now been 8,477 confirmed COVID-19 infections in the county. So far, an estimated 4,029 people have recovered from the virus in Dallas County; there are currently an estimated 4,241 active cases.
“Today's number follows a trend of this week having a lower number of positive cases than last week, and our hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and ICU admissions staying relatively flat. Unfortunately, none of this leads to the 14-day decline that the doctors have talked about, so we are still at that red ‘stay home stay safe’ zone," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
"The doctors recommend that although bars and restaurants have opened, that we avoid in-person dining, and rather do our celebrating with take-out and at home," Jenkins said. "If we’ll all make smart decisions, we can make it to a lower threat level where more opportunities for entertainment and commerce are open to us, and where less people are getting sick and dying. It’s up to all of us to flatten the curve. Remember that especially until we see a decline, 'Stay Home, Save Lives.”
DCHHS said Monday of cases requiring hospitalization who reported employment, over 80% 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.
