Dallas County on Wednesday reported a record 2,438 coronavirus cases, as well as 12 more COVID-19 deaths.
The county reported 5,361 cases Aug. 16 and 3,303 cases Nov. 29. But the August count was inflated by a dump of backlogged cases from the state’s reporting system, and November’s was a three-day cumulative total over Thanksgiving weekend.
County Judge Clay Jenkins warned of an “unprecedented high spread” of the virus.
“Today’s number … is 250 more new cases than we have ever experienced in any one day,” he said in a written statement, urging people to plan ahead to avoid crowds when the risk of transmission is so high.
“Any outbreak will eventually lead to someone, whether you know them or not, getting the virus and having a very bad outcome,” he said.
Eight of the latest Dallas County victims lived in Dallas — a man in his 50s, a woman in her 60s and six men in their 70s. The remaining victims were a Garland man in his 40s, a Seagoville man in his 50s, a Richardson man in his 70s and a Cedar Hill man in his 70s.
All had underlying health problems. Two of the Dallas victims lived at long-term care facilities.
Of the new cases reported Wednesday, 1,942 are confirmed and 496 are probable. The newly reported cases bring the county’s total confirmed cases to 149,533 and probable cases to 16,697. The county has reported a total of 1,391 COVID-19 deaths, a combined figure for probable and confirmed deaths.
The county has said it is counting only positive antigen tests (sometimes called rapid tests) as probable cases; a few antibody and “household” results were included previously.
Although other North Texas counties provide estimates for how many people have recovered from the virus, Dallas County officials do not report recoveries, noting that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not use that metric.
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 24-hour period that ended Tuesday, 838 COVID-19 patients were in acute care in hospitals in the county. During the same period, 565 ER visits were for symptoms of the disease.
Statewide data
Across the state, 18,007 more cases and 252 COVID-19 deaths were reported Wednesday. Texas has now reported 1,519,340 total cases and 24,394 fatalities.
Of the new cases, 14,805 were confirmed and 3,202 were probable. The state has reported 1,367,965 confirmed cases and 151,375 probable cases.
The state also added 671 older confirmed cases and 124 older probable cases that were recently reported by labs.
There are 9,528 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, including 2,765 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. On Wednesday, 17.36% of patients in the hospital region covering the Dallas-Fort Worth area were COVID-19 patients.
The seven-day average positivity rate statewide for molecular tests, based on the date of test specimen collection, was 13.8% as of Tuesday. State health officials said using data based on when people were tested provides the most accurate positivity rate.
For antigen tests, the positivity rate for the same period was 9.3%.
Tarrant County
Tarrant County reported 1,977 coronavirus cases Wednesday — its highest single-day total in almost a month — and 13 new deaths.
It was the county’s 10th consecutive day reporting double-digit deaths.
All of the latest victims who died had underlying health problems.
The fatalities include five Fort Worth residents — two women in their 60s, two men in their 70s and a woman in her 90s. The other victims were a Grand Prairie man in his 50s, a Hurst woman in her 70s, two Arlington men in their 70s, a Sansom Park man in his 70s, a Euless man in his 70s, a Bedford man in his 70s and a Benbrook woman in her 90s.
The newly reported cases bring the county’s total to 124,420, including 109,273 confirmed cases, 15,147 probable cases and 90,377 recoveries. The death toll stands at 1,039.
According to Wednesday’s numbers on the county dashboard, 996 people are hospitalized with the virus.
Collin County
The state added 655 confirmed coronavirus cases to Collin County’s total Wednesday, bringing the tally to 34,177. Seven new COVID-19 fatalities also were reported — a single-day record, according to state data — bringing the county’s death toll to 309.
No details about the latest victims were available.
According to state data, the county has 3,936 active cases of the virus and has recorded 30,241 recoveries.
The county’s coronavirus dashboard provides only total hospitalizations, now at 386.
Denton County
Denton County reported 698 coronavirus cases — of which 602 are active — and five new deaths Wednesday.
Three of the latest deaths were at Brinker Denton Senior Care Center — a man in his 60s and two women in their 70s.
The newly reported cases bring the county’s total to 32,285, including 9,725 that are active and 22,388 that are recoveries. The death toll stands at 172.
The newly reported cases also raise the county’s total molecular cases to 27,122, while antigen cases stand at 5,163.
There are a record 154 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, according to the county’s data. Four of the county’s 84 ICU beds are available.
Other counties
The Texas Department of State Health Services has taken over reporting for these other North Texas counties. In some counties, new data may not be reported every day.
The latest numbers are:
- Rockwall County: 4,097 confirmed cases, 43 deaths.
- Kaufman County: 6,509 confirmed cases, 101 deaths.
- Ellis County: 9,252 confirmed cases, 141 deaths.
- Johnson County: 7,711 confirmed cases, 131 deaths.
