Dallas County Reports Record 2,512 COVID-19 Cases, 30 Deaths
Dallas County Wednesday reported a new single-day high of 2,512 additional COVID-19 cases — 1,835 confirmed cases 677 probable — and another 30 deaths.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the county’s reported a cumulative total of 160,189 confirmed cases, 19,229 probable cases, and 1,544 deaths.
The additional deaths reported Wednesday include a Dallas man in his 20s who died in a vacant residence, a Dallas woman in her 40s, two Dallas men in their 50s, two Dallas women in their 50s, a Dallas man in his 60s who died in a hospital emergency room, a Dallas woman in her 60s, a Grand Prairie man in his 60s, a Balch Springs woman in her 60s, a Mesquite woman in her 60s, a Grand Prairie man in his 70s, a Grand Prairie woman in her 70s, a Cedar Hill man in his 70s, two Dallas men in their 70s who died in hospice, another Dallas man in his 70s, a Garland man in his 70s, a Sunnyvale man in his 70s, a Dallas woman in her 70s, a Garland man in his 70s who died in a hospital emergency room, two Irving men in their 80s, and a Grand Prairie man in his 80s.
Also among the deaths reported Wednesday were a man in his 70s who lived in a Richardson long-term care facility, a man in his 70s who lived in a Dallas long-term care facility, a woman in her 70s who lived in a Dallas long-term care facility, a woman in her 70s who lived in a Garland long-term care facility, a man in his 90s who lived in a Dallas long-term care facility, and a woman in her 100s who lived in a Garland long-term care facility.
“As of this morning, we had 17 remaining ICU beds in Dallas County, the worst we’ve seen so far. If we reach the predicted worse case scenarios, we will clearly surpass our capacity. While hospitals can add beds, we do not have the ability to easily add physicians, nurses, and other clinical staff,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. “Health care heroes will be asked to take on higher numbers of patients, and staff not normally worked in COVID units or ICU may be asked to provide this level of care. For the good of the community and the country, we ask that everyone make the sacrifices needed to curtail this spread, wearing masks in all indoor settings, shopping curbside and for delivery, avoiding getting together with individuals outside your household.”
Dallas County reported 972 COVID-19 patients in acute care Tuesday and there were 562 emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms Tuesday.
UT Southwestern Medical Center notes hospitalizations are at an all-time high in North Texas and now projects a 20% increase in hospitalizations in Dallas County by Jan. 5.
UTSW says COVID-19 hospitalizations increased 19% during the last two weeks.
UTSW’s model projects total COVID-19 hospitalizations in Dallas County could reach between 940 and 1,500 concurrent hospitalized cases by Jan. 5 and roughly 2,700 new COVID-19 infections per day are expected by Jan. 5.
Dallas County also reports 100 active long-term care facility outbreaks.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 2,696 residents and 1,590 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 640 have been hospitalized and 323 have died. About 22% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities. Thirty-nine outbreaks of COVID-19 in congregate-living facilities like homeless shelters, group homes, and halfway homes have been reported in the past 30 days associated with 172 cases, including six hospitalizations. One facility has reported 93 COVID-19 outbreak cases since October.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,864 healthcare workers and first responders have been reported with COVID-19 in Dallas County. Over the past 30 days, there have been 4,955 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff reported from 764 separate K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 692 staff members. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 21 school nurses have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
