Dallas County reports 20 more coronavirus deaths, tying its single-day high

Updated at 6:52 p.m.: Revised to include Ellis County.

Dallas County reported 20 new coronavirus deaths Tuesday, as well as 1,000 additional cases.

It was the 12th straight day the county has reported 1,000 or more cases and the single-day toll tied the county’s high, previously reported on June 30.

The latest victims included 16 Dallas residents: a man in his 40s, a man in his 50s, two men in their 60s, three men and three women in their 70s, four men and a woman in their 80s and a woman in her 90s. Three of them — a man and the woman in their 80s and the woman in her 90s — lived in long-term care facilities.

A Cedar Hill woman in her 70s, two Duncanville men in their 50s and 70s and a Grand Prairie man in his 40s also died.

The new cases bring the county’s total to 35,914 cases — about 13.6 for every 1,000 residents. There have been 477 deaths from COVID-19. The county does not report recoveries.

Across the state, a record 10,745 confirmed new cases were reported Tuesday, along with 87 additional deaths. The rate of positive cases also climbed to nearly 17% — a new high for Texas.

Hospitalizations are now doubling every two weeks and infection rates have soared in the aftermath of Gov. Greg Abbott embarking on what had been one of the most aggressive reopenings in America.

In Dallas County, 730 coronavirus patients were hospitalized Monday and there were 584 emergency-room visits for COVID-19, representing about one-third of visits. While those numbers are slightly lower than what the county last reported — 783 hospitalizations and 730 ER visits Friday — officials said that dip is due in part to a reporting issue.

The county continues to see “significant spread” of the virus, County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement.

“Our hospitals and healthcare heroes are feeling the strain as COVID-19 hospitalizations remain high,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins said doctors recommend that people only leave their homes for necessary trips, and he said people should visit the county’s coronavirus website to get guidance about what activities are safe.

“This guidance was put together by leaders in public health, infectious disease and epidemiology and their recommendations are based on our current level of community spread,” he said.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 531 new cases Tuesday. For the second straight day, the county did not report any additional COVID-19 deaths.

The county has recorded 19,014 cases, about nine for every thousand residents, and 272 deaths.

There are 645 people hospitalized with the virus, and 9,031 people have recovered from it, according to the county’s data.

Collin County

Three additional deaths were reported in Collin County on Tuesday — two of them residents of long-term care facilities.

Two men in their 60s died, one at a hospital and the other at Mustang Creek Memory Care. A man in his 80s died at Arbor Hills Memory Care, where 25 residents tested positive for COVID-19 last month.

The deaths raise the county’s toll to 61.

The county also reported 115 new cases of the virus and said there are 179 patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Collin County has seen 4,800 confirmed cases — about 4.6 for every 1,000 residents — and 3,822 recoveries.

Denton County

Denton County reported a record single-day increase of new cases — 154 — and its 41st death on Tuesday.

The victim was a Denton man older than 80, officials said.

The county has reported 4,316 cases, or about 4.9 for every 1,000 residents, and 2,357 recoveries.

108 people remain hospitalized with the virus, according to county data.

Denton County Public Health announced it is moving to a new system to report recoveries from the virus.

“Starting today, DCPH is transitioning to a hybrid system utilizing case interview data and a very conservative algorithm to report recoveries,” the department’s director, Dr. Matt Richardson, said in a written statement. “This algorithm utilizes an eight week post-onset window that exceeds the state projection for recovery to capture those recovered individuals we were unable to reach.”

Other counties

In Rockwall, a police officer is struggling with COVID-19, Chief Max Geron tweeted Tuesday morning. He asked for prayers for the officer — and also requested that people wear masks in public.

The Texas Department of State Health Services has taken over reporting coronavirus cases for several North Texas counties, and they may not report updated totals every day.

The latest numbers are:

• Rockwall County: 507 cases, 17 deaths.
• Kaufman County: 1,061 cases, five deaths.
• Ellis County: 1,729 cases, 21 deaths.
• Johnson County: 885 cases, four deaths.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.