Dallas County Reports 107 More Coronavirus Cases

Another 107 COVID-19 cases were reported by Dallas County officials Saturday, bringing the total to 1,644. Two more deaths were also reported.

The two deaths – which mark the 26th and 27th for the county, were reported by area hospitals and include a Garland man in his 60s and a Grand Prairie man in his 70s. Both had underlying health conditions.

“This Easter will be different but need not be less special. Easter commemorates the resurrection after a dark and hopeless Friday. Our Sunday is coming North Texas.  Just as Americans overcame the pandemic flu of 1918 and WWII, we will come through this and will emerge stronger together,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

The county’s twice-weekly aggregate data report continues to show that some momentum in the fight to stop the spread.

Despite cumulative cases increasing, hospitalizations continue to remain manageable by area hospitals.

Twenty-four hospitals on Friday reported ventilator and bed capacity numbers to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s office. Total beds occupied was 2,861 out of 5,329, with 479 intensive care beds out of 781 occupied. About 288 ventilators are being used out of 899.

In the county’s April 10 aggregate report, most cases continue to be between the ages of 18 and 60, with the 18-40 age group accounting for 35% of the cases, and the 41-60 age group accounting for 39% of the total cases. This week marked the first time that the elder range of that 18-60 age group accounted for most cases.

There were 814 men who were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus (or roughly 53%) and 723 women.

Close contact continues to be the biggest risk factor for contracting COVID-19,  accounting for 80.6% of all cases. Domestic out-of-state travel, living in a long-term care facility, and international travel are a distant second, third, and fourth, at 7.1%, 6.5%, and 3.4%, respectively. Tuesday’s report marks the first time that long-term care facility stays have shown up statistically at all, and now there are 100 cases.

Twenty-eight percent of all cases end up hospitalized – 33% end up in critical care, and 19% end up on a ventilator.

It’s also the first week that the county has provided a breakdown by race and ethnicity. Of the new cases this week, 21% were white, 29% were Hispanic, 26% were Black, and 23% were other or not identified.

Of the 23 deaths the county had reported at the time of Friday’s aggregate count, 22 died in the hospital, and three were found dead at home. Only 28 percent of those deaths were people younger than 65.

In a city-by-city breakdown, Dallas still comes in with the highest number of cases – 873 , or 56.8%. Highland Park has 14 cases so far, and University Park has 18.

About a third of all Dallas County patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have diabetes, data from the county continues to show. That same report also consistently shows that among cases requiring hospitalization, about 70% have been either over 60 years of age or have had at least one known high‐risk chronic health condition.


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Bethany Erickson

Bethany Erickson, former Digital Editor at People Newspapers, cut her teeth on community journalism, starting in Arkansas. She's taken home a few awards for her writing, including first place for her tornado coverage from the National Newspapers Association's 2020 Better Newspaper Contest, a Gold award for Best Series at the 2018 National Association of Real Estate Editors journalism awards, a 2018 Hugh Aynesworth Award for Editorial Opinion from the Dallas Press Club, and a 2019 award from NAREE for a piece linking Medicaid expansion with housing insecurity. She is a member of the Education Writers Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Real Estate Editors, the News Leaders Association, the News Product Alliance, and the Online News Association. She doesn't like lima beans, black licorice or the word synergy.

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