Dallas County Adds 20 COVID-19 Deaths; 183 deaths in 7 days breaks record set just a week ago

Update at 6.15 p.m .: Revised to include Dallas County data.

Dallas County reported 1,407 new coronavirus cases and 20 more deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday.

It marked the deadliest week in the pandemic to date, with 183 dead, County Judge Clay Jenkins said. This breaks the previous high of 138 set the previous week.

The latest victims – mostly in their sixties or older – included 10 people from Dallas, two from Farmers Branch, Garland and Irving, and one from Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville and Richardson. Almost all had been hospitalized and all but one had underlying health problems.

Jenkins said while hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have declined slightly in recent weeks, county health officials are concerned about the most recent projections from UT Southwestern. Their forecast model predicts that between 910 and 1,390 people will be hospitalized in Dallas County by February 9.

That’s less than past projections, but it will still place “immense pressure” on health care systems, the county said in a press release.

Of the new cases reported on Saturday, 1,170 were confirmed and 237 were probable.

The county has reported a total of 256,900 cases, including 226,452 confirmed and 30,448 probable. The death toll is 2,179.

Health officials are using hospitalizations, intensive care admissions and emergency room visits as key indicators to track the real-time impact of COVID-19 in the county. In the 24-hour period that ended Friday, 989 patients with COVID-19 were in acute care at county hospitals. During the same period, 512 emergency room visits were for symptoms of the disease.

According to state data, 136,028 people in Dallas County have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 30,650 are fully vaccinated.

Texas

Statewide, an additional 19,569 cases of COVID-19 were reported on Saturday, including 18,109 new cases and 1,460 older cases recently reported by labs.

The state also reported 332 deaths from COVID-19, bringing its toll to 36,320.

Of the new cases, 14,969 were confirmed and 3,140 were probable. Of the older cases, 1,068 were confirmed and 392 were probable.

The state has now reported a total of 2,349,262 cases, of which 2,049,055 are confirmed and 300,207 probable. (The state has also removed 335 cases from the total confirmed cases due to a data audit in Hays County.)

There are 11,473 patients with COVID-19 in Texas hospitals, including 3,173 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As of Friday, 19% of patients in the hospital region covering the Dallas-Fort Worth area were COVID-19 patients – above the 15% threshold used by the state to define high hospitalizations.

The statewide seven-day average positivity rate for molecular testing, based on the date of sample collection, was 14.77% on Friday. For antigenic tests, the positivity rate for the same period was 7.93%. A molecular test is considered more accurate and is sometimes also referred to as a PCR test; an antigen test is also called a rapid test. Governor Greg Abbott said a positivity rate above 10% was concerning.

State expects massive influx of vaccines

Texas is expected to receive a significantly higher number of COVID-19 vaccines in the coming week, the state health department said. Providers will receive 520,425 first doses of the vaccine and 188,225 seconds for people vaccinated a few weeks ago.

The extra doses are largely due to a 30% increase in the number of Moderna vaccines provided by the federal government, the state said.

The increase is also due to the return to the state of 126,750 additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine, initially reserved for the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for the long-term care program. The program overestimated the number of doses it would need, the state health department said.

The state said it was working with providers to ensure they had enough second doses for patients vaccinated a few weeks ago. People should be able to return to the provider who gave them their first dose, the state said.

According to state data, 1,842,287 people in Texas have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 448,649 are fully vaccinated.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 1,862 coronavirus cases and 16 deaths on Saturday.

The latest casualties – mostly in their sixties or older – included seven people from Fort Worth, two from North Richland Hills and one each from Arlington, Euless, Haltom City, Hurst, Mansfield, Saginaw and Watauga. All of them had underlying health issues, the county said.

Of the new cases, 1,560 were confirmed and 302 were probable.

The county has now reported a total of 216,910 cases, including 187,038 confirmed and 29,872 probable. The death toll is 2,176.

According to the county, 1,177 people were hospitalized with the virus on Friday.

According to the state, 104,775 people in Tarrant County have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 17,729 are fully vaccinated.

Collin County

On Saturday, the state added 505 coronavirus cases and seven deaths to the Collin County total.

No details on the latest casualties were available.

Of the new cases, 331 were confirmed and 174 were probable.

The county has reported a total of 72,370 cases, including 61,854 confirmed and 10,516 probable. The death toll is 573.

According to the county, 496 people are hospitalized with the virus.

According to the state, 51,046 people in Collin County have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 13,339 are fully vaccinated.

Denton County

Denton County reported 306 cases of coronavirus and no deaths on Saturday.

The county has reported a total of 53,554 cases, including 42,349 confirmed and 11,205 probable. The death toll is 318.

According to the county, 171 people are hospitalized with the virus.

According to the state, 28,383 people in Denton County have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 7,953 are fully vaccinated.

Other counties

The Texas Department of State Health Services have resumed reporting for these other North Texas counties. In some countries, new data may not be communicated every day.

The latest numbers are:

• Rockwall County: 9,337 cases (7,762 confirmed and 1,575 probable), 100 deaths.
• Kaufman County: 13,005 cases (11,281 confirmed and 1,724 probable), 182 deaths.
• Ellis County: 18,561 cases (16,240 confirmed and 2,321 probable), 232 deaths.
• Johnson County: 16,483 cases (14,503 confirmed and 1,980 probable), 263 deaths.