D-FW’s ability to roll back as COVID-19 hospitalizations remain above 15% for 7 consecutive days

Updated at 5:50 p.m .: revised to include status data.

The state hospital region that includes Dallas-Fort Worth reported COVID-19 hospitalizations above Gov. Greg Abbott’s 15% threshold for the seventh day in a row Thursday, leading to a reduction in domestic capacity for businesses in the region.

The state said 15.55% of hospital beds in North Texas were occupied by patients with coronavirus. According to the governor’s decree, after seven consecutive days above 15%, companies must reduce their domestic occupancy rate from 75% to 50%.

There are 9,151 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, including 2,545 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Gov. Abbott’s executive orders remain in place for Texas residents to wear hats in restaurants unless they are seated to eat and drink. Outdoor spaces such as restaurant patios have no occupancy limit, but diners must maintain social distancing. Bars that do not have a food and beverage permit issued by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission must remain closed.

Renae Eze, spokesperson for Governor Greg Abbott, said Thursday that “mitigation protocols work, but only if they are applied.” Last month, Abbott suggested that local authorities were not fully implementing his COVID-19 orders.

But Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, like local state officials, said the county and its municipalities were at a standstill in enforcing mask rules and the number of patrons allowed inside. companies because the state set these restrictions. Part of the problem is that a warning is required first, officials say. The city of Dallas has issued nearly 6,200 warnings since March, according to city records, but only 37 official citations.

Dallas County reported three COVID-19-related deaths on Thursday as it announced 2,122 more cases of the coronavirus.

The latest deaths were a Dallas man in his 60s and two Dallas men in their 60s, all of whom had been hospitalized. All three victims had underlying health issues.

Of the new cases reported Thursday, 1,637 are confirmed and 485 are probable. The newly reported cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 130,830 and probable cases to 12,909. The county has recorded 1,224 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 and 36 probable deaths.

The county recently announced that it only counts positive antigen tests (sometimes called rapid tests) as probable cases; some results on antibodies and “households” have been included previously.

Although other counties in north Texas provide estimates of how many people have recovered from the virus, Dallas County officials are not reporting recoveries, noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not use this metric.

In a written statement, Jenkins said Thursday that he expects healthcare workers and nursing home residents to start receiving vaccines this month. Governor Greg Abbott announced on Wednesday that the state will receive 1.4 million coronavirus vaccines the week of December 14.

“There’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Jenkins said. “However, we are not there yet, and it is imperative that we all do what we can to be a little bit safer for ourselves, our community and our country until the vaccine can do. its effect. “

The county reported that from November 15 to 21, 1,157 school-aged children tested positive for COVID-19. Last week, 13 Dallas County K-12 schools launched temporary closures for in-person education due to COVID-19 cases.

More than two-thirds of all confirmed cases requiring hospitalization so far are in people under the age of 65, and diabetes is an underlying condition for around one-third of all hospitalized patients, according to the county.

The county’s provisional seven-day average of new confirmed and probable daily cases for the latest reporting period, Nov. 15-21, was 1,347. The figure is calculated based on the date of COVID-19 test collection, depending on the county.

Dallas County does not provide positivity rates for all COVID-19 tests performed in the region; County health officials said they did not have an accurate tally of how many tests were done each day. But as of the county’s latest reporting period, 17.3% of people who presented to hospitals with symptoms of COVID-19 have tested positive for the virus. This is an increase from the previous baseline, when 17% of these patients tested positive.

Of the total number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the county, about 23% are associated with long-term care facilities.

Statewide data

Statewide, 13,857 additional cases and 244 deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Thursday. Texas has now reported 1,215,113 confirmed cases and 22,000 deaths.

The statewide seven-day average positivity rate, based on the date the test samples were collected, was 15.02% on Wednesday. State health officials have said that using data based on when people were tested provides the most accurate rate of positivity.

The condition also provides a positivity rate based on when the lab results were reported to the condition; that rate was 13.3% on Wednesday.

Officials previously calculated the coronavirus positivity rate in Texas by dividing the last seven days of new positive test results by the last seven days of total new test results. By this measure, the positivity rate is now 11.45%, according to the state’s scoreboard.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 1,894 coronavirus cases and 10 new deaths on Thursday.

The latest deaths include a Fort Worth man in his 80s, an Arlington woman in her 80s, two Arlington men in their 70s, a Fort Worth man and woman in their 70s, and a man and three Fort Worth women in their fifties. Seven of the victims had underlying health issues.

The newly reported cases bring the county’s total to 105,675, including 93,592 confirmed cases, 12,083 probable cases and 74,266 recoveries. The death toll stands at 864.

According to figures on Thursday’s county dashboard, 884 people are hospitalized with the virus.

Collin County

The state added 295 coronavirus cases to Collin County’s total on Thursday, bringing the total to 27,848. Five new deaths from COVID-19 have also been reported.

The county’s death toll stood at 266.

According to state data, the county had 3,091 active cases and recorded 24,757 recoveries.

COVID-19 hospitalizations totaled 306, according to the county dashboard.

Denton County

Denton County reported 471 coronavirus cases – of which 335 are active cases – and four new deaths on Thursday.

The latest deaths include a Denton man in his 80s, a woman in his 80s who resided at the Longmeadow Healthcare Center in Justin, a Corinthian man in his 50s and a man in his 60s who was a resident of Countryside Nursing and Rehabilitation at Pilot Point.

The newly reported cases bring the county total to 25,094, with 6,442 active and 18,500 in recovery. The death toll stands at 152.

There are 770 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, according to county data.

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: 3,444 cases, 39 deaths.
• Kaufman County: 5,539 cases, 85 deaths.
• Ellis County: 7,755 cases, 118 deaths.
• Johnson County: 6,171 cases, 112 deaths.

Editor-in-chief Erin Booke and editor Allie Morris contributed to this report.

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