Dallas County is reporting eight more COVID-19-related deaths and 1,055 new confirmed cases of the infection on Wednesday, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
The last eight victims of the virus include:
- A Grand Prairie man in his 50s who had underlying health problems and had been seriously ill in a hospital ICU with the virus.
- A Dallas man in his 60s who had been ill at an area hospital.
- A Mesquite woman in her 60s who had underlying health problems and had been hospitalized.
- A Dallas man in his 60s who had underlying health problems and had been seriously ill in a hospital ICU with the virus.
- A 70-year-old Duncanville woman who had underlying health problems and had been hospitalized.
- A 70-year-old Dallas woman who had underlying health problems and had been hospitalized.
- An 80-year-old Dallas man who had no underlying health problems and was a resident of a long-term care facility. He had been seriously ill with the virus in the ICU of a hospital.
- A Dallas man in his 90s who had underlying health problems and was a resident of a long-term care facility. He had been hospitalized with the virus.
“The eight deaths we experience today make it clear that by the end of this week on Saturday, this will be one of our deadliest weeks yet,” Jenkins said.
The 1,055 cases reported on Wednesday are the 13th consecutive day with cases exceeding 1,000. The 7-day average for new cases is now 1,115 cases per day, up from an average of 209 per day on June 1. In the past week, Dallas County has added 7,809 new cases of the virus.
The county has now accumulated 36,969 cases of the virus since testing began in March. There have been 485 deaths attributed to the virus in the county, which, according to Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas County Director of Health and Human Services, is now the third leading cause of death in the county behind heart disease and cancer. . Since March 20, the date of the first COVID-19-related death in Dallas County, the county has averaged four deaths per day.
Dallas County officials said Wednesday that they continue to see large numbers of COVID-19 patients in Dallas County with 648 people in acute care as of Tuesday. In addition, the number of emergency room visits for COVID-19-like symptoms was 646 in the 24-hour period ending Tuesday, July 14.
“I again urge Governor Abbott to enact the reasonable and business-friendly suggestions from the medical community that we sent him three weeks ago, and again urged him to enact it since then. Essentially, that request is to close restaurants and restaurants. Companies like cigar bars where 100% use of masks is not possible at all times. The longer we wait to apply these modest restrictions, the worse things will be and the more damage to public health and the economy is likely to occur. “
Gov. Greg Abbott said Texans “would not comply” if he issued a statewide shutdown, rather than asking local authorities to impose a mask and limit mandate on social gatherings enacted in early July.
The increase in cases occurs when the state’s positivity rate, the percentage of people who test positive for the virus, has remained above 10% for almost three weeks and rose to a new high of 16.89% on Monday. An increase in the positivity rate indicates an increase in the spread of the virus, not an increase in tests to detect the virus.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, an estimated 18,903 people (as of Wednesday) in the county have recovered from the virus, leaving approximately 17,589 known patients fighting the infection.
County officials said last week that more than half of the new cases reported have been young adults ages 18 to 39.
To date, of the cases requiring hospitalization that reported employment, 83% have been critical infrastructure workers, with a wide range of occupational sectors affected, including health care, transportation, food and agriculture, public works, finance, communications , clergy, response personnel and other essential functions.
Of the cases requiring hospitalization, two-thirds have been under the age of 65 and about half have no high-risk chronic conditions. Diabetes has been a reported high-risk underlying health condition in approximately one third of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
The county has been reporting for several weeks that more than a third of COVID-19 related deaths have been residents of long-term care facilities.
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