Texas reports 16,864 confirmed coronavirus cases as Dallas County records 1,382 cases, 10 deaths

Updated at 7:58 p.m .: Revised to include statewide data.

Dallas County on Thursday reported 1,382 more cases of the coronavirus, all considered new. Ten new deaths from COVID-19 have also been reported.

As the North Texas vacation approaches, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins urged residents to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves, asking them to consider curbside shopping or ordering online groceries and giveaways and forgo gatherings.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel with vaccinations going on, and thousands of our health heroes have received their vaccinations,” Jenkins said in a written statement. “The time has come when we all need to make small sacrifices to keep our community and our country strong in this time of unprecedented spread and while waiting for the collective immunity that will come from the vast majority of the vaccinated population.

Seven of Dallas County’s latest victims lived in Dallas – two women in their 60s, a man in their 60s, three men in their 80s and a man in their 80s. The other three victims included a DeSoto woman in her sixties, a Mesquite man in her sixties and a woman in her sixties from Balch Springs.

All had underlying health issues and four of Thursday’s victims were living in long-term care facilities.

Of the new cases reported Thursday, 976 are confirmed and 406 are probable. The newly reported cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 150,509 and probable cases to 17,103. The county has recorded 1,413 confirmed deaths from COVID-19.

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

While 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 federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not use this metric.

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 Wednesday, 821 patients with COVID-19 were in acute care at county hospitals. During the same period, 524 emergency room visits were for symptoms of the disease.

State-wide data

Statewide, 20,388 additional cases and 266 deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Thursday. Texas has now reported 1,539,189 total cases and 24,660 deaths.

Of the new cases, 16,864 were confirmed and 3,524 were probable. The state has reported 1,371,223 confirmed cases and 167,966 probable cases.

The state also added 614 older confirmed cases and 194 older probable cases recently reported by labs.

There are 9,628 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, including 2,828 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 1,825 coronavirus cases and 17 new deaths on Thursday.

Five of Tarrant County’s last victims lived in Fort Worth, including a man in his 40s, a man and woman in their 60s, and a Fort Worth man and woman in their 40s.

Three victims were from Crowley, including a woman in her fifties, a man in her sixties and a man in his sixties.

The remaining victims include a Bedford woman in her 90s, a woman Euless in her 80s, a Benbrook woman in her 70s, a man from Lake Worth in her 70s, a Kennedale man in her 60s, a woman from Grand Prairie in his 50s, a Hurst man in his 40s, a Sansom Park man in his 40s, and an unincorporated Tarrant County man in his 60s.

All but three of the victims reported Thursday had underlying health issues.

The newly reported cases bring the county’s total to 126,245, including 110,647 confirmed cases, 15,598 probable cases and 91,836 recoveries. The death toll stands at 1,055.

According to figures on Thursday’s county dashboard, 1,013 people are hospitalized with the virus.

Collin County

The state added 644 coronavirus cases to Collin County’s total on Thursday, bringing the total to 34,821. Two new deaths from COVID-19 were also reported, bringing the county’s death toll to 311.

No details on the latest casualties were available.

According to state data, the county has 3,934 active cases of the virus and has recorded 30,887 recoveries.

The county’s coronavirus dashboard only provides total hospitalizations, now at 404.

Denton County

Denton County reported 837 cases of the coronavirus – of which 767 are active – and eight new deaths on Thursday.

Six of the latest deaths have been at the Brinker Denton Senior Care Center – two men in their 60s, a woman in her 60s and three women over 80. a resident of Providence Village.

The newly reported cases bring the county total to 33,121, with 10,329 ongoing and 22,612 in recovery. The death toll stands at 180.

There are 148 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, 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: 4,214 cases, 45 deaths.
• Kaufman County: 6,625 cases, 102 deaths.
• Ellis County: 9,419 cases, 143 deaths.
• Johnson County: 7,895 cases, 132 deaths.

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Clarification: The total number of cases for the state has been updated to total 1,539,189 cases.