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Dallas County adds 704 coronavirus cases, but only 20% are considered new; three new deaths reported

Tarrant County announces 587 cases but says nearly half are from “lab reporting delay.”

Dallas County on Thursday reported 704 more coronavirus cases — 141 considered new and 563 from previous months. Three new deaths were also reported.

Labs either report coronavirus cases directly to the county health department or to the state health department, which then relays the information to individual counties. Of cases reported Thursday, Dallas County health officials said, 692 came from the state’s reporting system, including 259 from June, 303 from July, one from August and 129 from September. The remaining 11 cases were reported directly to the county health department.

All three victims were women. Two lived in Dallas, were in their 60s and 70s, and had no underlying health problems. The third lived in Carrollton, was in her 90s and died in an area hospital.

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Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said that while county health officials are concerned about where coronavirus case numbers are headed in neighboring counties, Dallas County’s cases figures are “still considered flat.”

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“Our improvement has stopped, but we have not seen an increase over a seven- or 14-day period in the metrics that the doctors look at,” he said.

The newly reported cases bring the county’s total confirmed cases to 79,426. The county’s death toll stands at 1,005.

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Dallas County included one probable case among the newly reported cases Thursday, bringing its total number of probable cases to 3,878 probable cases and 11 probable COVID-19 deaths. Probable cases and deaths include people who had a positive antigen test (sometimes called rapid tests); had antibodies for the virus; or had COVID-19 symptoms and contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

While other North Texas counties provide estimates for how many people have recovered from the virus, Dallas County officials do not report recoveries, saying it’s not a measurement used by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Health officials use hospitalizations, intensive-care admissions and emergency room visits as key metrics to track the real-time impact of COVID-19 in the county. In the previous 24 hours, 314 COVID-19 patients were in acute-care in hospitals in the county, and 351 ER visits were for symptoms of the disease.

Statewide data

Across the state, 3,840 more coronavirus cases and 138 COVID-19 deaths were reported Thursday. Texas has reported 723,919 confirmed cases and 15,267 fatalities.

The state dashboard indicated Thursday that 3,204 people were hospitalized with the virus across Texas. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the total was 785.

The Texas case total listed on the state dashboard unexpectedly jumped Tuesday with the addition of 13,856 old cases: 13,622 from Harris County, 231 from Nueces County, two from Dallas County and one from San Jacinto County.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told Houston Public Media that her county’s case dump stemmed from the county health department’s implementation the weekend before of a new automated system that processes coronavirus cases much more quickly.

Texas’ seven-day average positivity rate statewide, based on the date of test specimen collection, was 6.35% as of Wednesday. State health officials said using data based on when people were tested will provide the most accurate positivity rate.

The state also provides a positivity rate based on when lab results were reported to the state; that rate stood at 8.63% as of Wednesday.

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Officials previously calculated Texas' coronavirus positivity rate by dividing the most recent seven days of new positive test results by the most recent seven days of total new test results. By that measure, the positivity rate is now 7.55% percent, according to its dashboard.

A spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services said that positivity rate data based on lab results and new cases will likely be phased out but is still being provided for transparency and continuity purposes.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 587 coronavirus cases and two COVID-19 deaths Thursday.

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According to a note on the county dashboard, 286 of the new cases reported Thursday were due to a “lab reporting delay.” The specimen collection dates for the cases were dated 30 days or older.

The deaths were of an Arlington man and a Benbrook woman in their 90s who each had underlying health problems.

The newly reported cases bring the county’s total to 48,504, including 3,403 probable cases. The death toll stands at 643, and 42,141 people have recovered.

According to the county dashboard, 251 people are hospitalized with the virus.

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Collin County

Collin County added 100 coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing its total to 13,310.

No new deaths were reported, leaving the countywide toll at 141.

The county has 947 active cases, and 12,363 people have recovered from the virus. According to the county dashboard, 95 people are hospitalized with the virus.

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Collin County, which receives its data from the Department of State Health Services since it turned over case management in June, has a note on its dashboard warning residents that it has low confidence in the numbers it is being provided.

Denton County

Denton County reported 91 coronavirus cases — of which 62 are active — on Thursday.

No new deaths were reported, so the county’s death toll remains 109.

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The newly reported cases bring the county’s total to 11,861, including 1,535 that are active and 10,217 that are recoveries.

Other counties

The Texas Department of State Health Services has taken over reporting for these other North Texas counties. For some counties, new data may not be reported every day.

The latest numbers are:

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  • Rockwall County: 1,610 cases, 25 deaths.
  • Kaufman County: 3,107 cases, 47 deaths.
  • Ellis County: 4,328 cases, 68 deaths.
  • Johnson County: 2,958 cases, 49 deaths.

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