Dallas County adds 20 COVID-19 deaths; 183 deaths in 7 days shatters record set only a week ago – The Dallas Morning News

Updated 6:15 p.m.: Revised to include data from Dallas County.

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

This marked the deadliest week of the pandemic so far, with 183 deaths, County Judge Clay Jenkins said. That shatters the previous high of 138 set only the week before.

The latest victims — mostly in their 60s or older — included 10 people from Dallas, two each from Farmers Branch, Garland and Irving, and one each from Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville and Richardson. Nearly all had been hospitalized, and all but one had underlying health conditions.

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

That’s lower than past projections but will still be an “immense strain” on health care systems, the county said in a news release.

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

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

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 Friday, 989 COVID-19 patients were in acute care in hospitals in the county. During the same period, 512 ER visits were for symptoms of the disease.

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

Texas

Across the state, 19,569 more COVID-19 cases were reported Saturday, including 18,109 new cases and 1,460 older cases that were recently reported by labs.

The state also reported 332 COVID-19 deaths, raising 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 2,349,262 cases overall, including 2,049,055 confirmed and 300,207 probable. (The state also removed 335 cases from the total confirmed cases due to a data audit in Hays County.)

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

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

State expects big influx of vaccine

Texas is set 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 second doses for people vaccinated a few weeks ago.

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

The increase is also due to an additional 126,750 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which were initially set aside for the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, being returned to the state. The program overestimated how many doses it would need, the state health department said.

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

According to the state’s 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 Saturday.

The latest victims — mostly in their 60s 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 had underlying health conditions, the county said.

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

The county has now reported 216,910 cases overall, 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 as of 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

The state added 505 coronavirus cases and seven deaths to Collin County’s totals Saturday.

No details about the latest victims were available.

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

The county has reported 72,370 cases total, 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 coronavirus cases and no deaths Saturday.

The county has reported 53,554 cases overall, 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 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: