Record COVID-19 Hospitalizations in Dallas County Wednesday as 2,427 New Cases, 17 Deaths Reported

Dallas County is reporting a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations Wednesday while adding another 2,427 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus and 17 more deaths.

Officials in the county said there were 1,145 COVID-19 patients in acute care in Dallas County through Tuesday, which is a record, and that there were another 651 people with COVID-19 symptoms who visited county emergency rooms on the same day.

The increase in hospitalizations following the recent holiday weekends has county leaders concerned about further increases in cases and hospitalizations.

"With the high spread we’re seeing in the community, January and February will be our worst months for both hospitalizations and new COVID cases," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a prepared statement. "It is more important than ever that we follow the doctors’ advice to wear our masks, frequently wash our hands and avoid crowds and get-togethers. The smart decisions we make today will have an impact on the numbers in two weeks and keep our community and our country as strong as possible at this critical time."

In a statement Tuesday, Dallas County asked those who gathered over the holiday, especially in crowded indoor settings, even with no confirmed COVID exposure, to please take all precautions to reduce spread by staying home, masking if leaving for essential activities, monitoring for symptoms, getting tested, and especially staying away from vulnerable or elderly family members and friends until they are sure they aren't infected. You can find additional information on risk-level monitoring data here.

Of the 2,427 cases reported Wednesday, the county said 1,817 were confirmed cases and 610 were probable (antigen test) cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county from March to 183,974 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 22,828. The total of confirmed and probable cases in the county is now at 206,802. Over the last seven days, Dallas County officials have reported 15,258 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus for an average of 2,179 per day.

County officials said Wednesday there have been 1,715 deaths in the county attributed to the virus since March 2020. The 17 latest victims include people whose ages ranged from their 50s to their 90s and included two people who died in hospital emergency rooms.

• A man in his 50s 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 60s who was a resident of the city Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the city of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 60s 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 60s 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 60s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the city of Cedar Hill. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 70s 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 70s who was a resident of the city of Garland. She died in an area hospital ED and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70s who was a resident of the city of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70s 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 80s who was a resident of the city of Dallas. He died in an area hospital ED and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80s 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 woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the city of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the city of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had no underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the city of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the city of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had no underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the city of Dallas. She died in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.

While Collin and Tarrant counties have begun offering COVID-19 vaccines to those in Phase 1B, Dallas County said they are still working to administer vaccines to those in Phase 1A, however, they have begun taking registrations for those in Phase 1B and plan to be able to vaccinate more than 2,000 people per day beginning next week.

"We are ramping up vaccine distribution daily and this Monday we will have several new sites open," Jenkins said Wednesday.

The county is planning on doing mass vaccinations at the Ellis Davis Field House and a second mega center location that has not yet been confirmed.

The vaccine is currently only being administered to those who are part of Phase 1A and 1B, as outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Those in Phase 1A are front-line healthcare workers or residents of long-term care facilities. Phase 1B includes those who are over the age of 65, or those over the age of 16 with a chronic medical condition that puts them at risk for severe illness.

Once vaccinated, people are expected to get some level of protection within a couple of weeks after the first shot, but full protection may not happen until a couple of weeks after the second shot. Even when fully vaccinated, it's still possible to become infected by the virus since the vaccine does not offer 100% protection.

The county said that the provisional 7-day average for new confirmed and probable cases by date of a test collection for CDC week 52 was 1,637, which represents a rate of 67.8 daily new cases per 100,000 residents.

In the last 30 days, there have been 5,309 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from more than 677 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 454 staff members. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 21 school nurses have been diagnosed with COVID-19.