For the fourth straight day, Dallas County is reporting a record number of new COVID-19 cases Friday. In addition to the 328 new cases, the county is also reporting the deaths of three men, all of whom were in their 60s.
The additional 3 deaths include:
- A Richardson man in his 60s who had underlying high-risk health conditions and was critically ill in an area hospital.
- A Garland man in his 60s who did not have underlying health conditions but was critically ill in an area hospital.
- An Irving man in his 60s who had underlying health conditions and was critically ill in an area hospital.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins announced the latest infections and deaths Friday afternoon while calling for more people to be tested and for people to continue to heed the warnings and take precautions.
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"Today’s numbers continue a trend of more positive COVID-19 tests than ever before, which we’ve seen for each of the last four days. It should be remembered, that part of this could be due to increased testing," said Jenkins. "The more concerning number is the increase that we’re seeing in hospitalizations for COVID-19. We are at our highest numbers for the region and for Dallas County again today."
There are now 13,585 confirmed cases in Dallas County with 280 deaths. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, an estimated 8,227 people (through Thursday) in the county have recovered from the virus leaving an estimated 5,078 active cases in the county.
Jenkins recommended people download the county's color-coded chart for doctors’ guidelines as to what activities are safe and how to perform them. Jenkins also said they will release Friday new guidelines for high-risk individuals and their caretakers.
That guide can be seen in the judge's tweet below.
After a drop in daily cases in late May, the number of new cases surged well above 200 again every day this month and, twice last week, set records for the number of new cases set in the county.
The week started with 254 new cases on Monday and has risen every day since with 298 on Tuesday, 300 on Wednesday, 312 on Thursday and 328 Friday. Every day since Monday a record number of new cases has been reached.
DCHHS said Friday they have seen an increase in the number of patients in the daily hospital census and that for the last two days that number has been above 370. Last week, the DCHHS said that number was just below 300. Additionally, through Thursday June, 11, DCHHS reported an increase in the percentage of emergency room visits for COVID-19 like symptoms to 23%, representing some 498 patients.
Jenkins said during a news conference Friday afternoon that they would closely watch the numbers through the weekend and on Monday and Tuesday to see if the hospitalizations come down.
Earlier this week, Jenkins added that two new test sites were open Monday through Saturday at Red Bird Mall and Inspired Vision Compassion Center from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for walk-up testing. Jenkins announced two new locations on Friday at Dallas County Walmart locations - one at 915 Town East Boulevard in Mesquite that'll be open on Tuesday and Thursday beginning June 16 and another at 2650 Texas 161 in Grand Prairie that'll be open Monday, Wednesday and Friday beginning June 15.
There is still free drive-thru testing at the American Airlines Center and Ellis Davis Field House. Confidential tests are available for people who may have been exposed while protesting, Jenkins said. More testing info can be found here.
DCHHS said local health experts use hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ER visits as three of the key indicators in determining the COVID-19 Risk Level (color-coded risk seen below) and corresponding guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response.
DCHHS said Friday of cases requiring hospitalization who reported employment, over 80% have been critical infrastructure workers, with a broad range of affected occupational sectors, including healthcare, transportation, food and agriculture, public works, finance, communications, clergy, first responders and other essential functions.
Of cases requiring hospitalization, two-thirds have been under 65 years of age, and about half do not have high-risk chronic health conditions. Diabetes has been an underlying high-risk health condition reported in about a third of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
The county has been reporting for several weeks now that more than a third of the deaths related to COVID-19 have been among residents of long-term care facilities.
