Dallas County reported 581 new coronavirus cases and one additional death on Monday.
The latest victim was a Seagoville woman in her 90s who died in hospice care and had underlying health conditions.
County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement that “every life is precious.”
He said a trend of lower COVID-19 hospitalizations, ICU admissions and ER visits continued Monday.
However, county officials said new data on hospitalizations, ICU admissions and emergency room visits for the virus will be available Tuesday due to weekend reporting.
According to state data, there are 1,282 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Statewide, hospitalizations total 7,304, according to the Department of State Health Services.
Texas’ testing positivity rate has skyrocketed to roughly 21% as of Sunday, twice the rate Gov. Greg Abbott had set as a red line earlier in the pandemic.
One contributing factor to the higher rate could be a drop in the number of total tests reported. The state reported a seven-day average of 34,200 tests last week, a significant drop from the average of 66,000 tests per day at the end of July.
Texas reported 4,455 new cases. The state has continued to see a relatively low number of deaths reported on Mondays, and while 116 deaths were reported Sunday, just 31 were reported Monday.
The state’s totals rose to 8,490 deaths, 490,817 cases and 349,833 estimated recoveries, according to DSHS.
Dallas County’s totals grew to 756 COVID-19 confirmed deaths and 55,255 cases or about 21 for every 1,000 residents. The county does not report recoveries.
The county also reported 40 new probable cases of the virus, for a total of 2,242, including six probable deaths. Dallas County counts probable cases separately and does not include them in its confirmed case totals.
Jenkins said the “limited success” the county is seeing is due to taking health precautions such as wearing masks and physical distancing.
“We must not lose our resolve that has brought us to a better place than we were in the middle of last month,” he said.
The county saw an 18-day streak of at least 1,000 new cases each day in early and mid-July.
Jenkins said all of the county’s numbers are still higher than when the state began reopening in early May.
“With the opening of schools soon, there will be more people around one another, and it’s imperative that we continue to do those things that are proven to be successful when we are around people outside of our home,” he said.
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Tarrant County
The county reported 305 new COVID-19 cases Monday. No new deaths were reported, leaving the county’s toll at 422.
The county has had 34,165 cases or about 16.2 for every 1,000 residents. Of those, 1,696 are probable cases and 32,469 are confirmed cases.
There are 452 people hospitalized with the virus while an estimated 22,792 have recovered, according to county data.
Collin County
The county reported 180 new COVID-19 cases Monday and its 90th death from the virus — a Richardson man in his 70s who had underlying health conditions.
Coronavirus cases rose to 7,833 or about 7.6 for every 1,000 residents.
Hospitalizations for the virus are at 136 and 5,171 people have recovered according to county data.
Denton County
The county reported 101 new coronavirus cases Monday and deaths remained at 62.
The new cases brought the county’s total to 7,745 or about 8.7 for every 1,000 residents.
According to county data, 39 people are hospitalized with the virus while 4,702 have recovered.
Other counties
The Texas Department of State Health Services has taken over reporting for other North Texas counties. Some of those counties may not report updates each day. The latest numbers are:
- Rockwall County: 964 cases, 18 deaths.
- Kaufman County: 2,158 cases, 25 deaths.
- Ellis County: 2,855 cases, 42 deaths.
- Johnson County: 1,861 cases, 30 deaths.
Staff writer Nic Garcia contributed to this report.
Correction: This headline has been corrected to reflect the number of cases reported Monday in Dallas County.