Dallas County Tops ‘Deadliest Day' With 50 More COVID-19 Deaths, Adds 1,356 New Cases

Dallas County is reporting 1,356 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday along with another record number of reported deaths with 50. With the latest deaths, the county has reported 228 deaths in the last seven days, an average of 33 deaths per day.

“Today I sadly report another record in deaths ... as we have said, these will be our darkest months for deaths thus far," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, while also calling on people to not lose their resolve to fighting the pandemic and to continue to avoid large gatherings, such as Super Bowl parties, and to wear masks, wash your hands and get vaccinated.

"Now is the time to strengthen our resolve, trade fear for faith in the science and the facts that have proven to be effective in keeping us safer, and focus not on what your neighbor could do but on what each one of us can do to be just a little bit stronger in the battle against COVID. Together, we will overcome this pandemic. Brighter days are ahead if we follow the science and the facts together,” said Jenkins.

Want to Get on a Vaccine Waitlist?

County health departments have launched waitlists for adults 16 years old and over.

You can register to recieve the vaccination in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties. Links are below:

Waitlist Links: Collin - Search Waitlist | Dallas | Denton | Tarrant

You do not need to be a resident of the county to register for a COVID-19 vaccine in that county -- registration is open to anyone in Texas. For those without internet access, Tarrant County is also taking registrations by phone at 817-248-6299. In Dallas County, call the DCHHS vaccine hotline at 1-855-IMMUNE9 (1-855-466-8639). In Denton County, call 940-349-2585.

For a more detailed breakdown of who is included in each priority group in Texas, see this page from the Texas DSHS.

Of the cases reported Wednesday, the county said 1,016 were confirmed cases and 340 were probable (antigen test) cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county from March 2020 to 231,411 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 31,327. The total of confirmed and probable cases in the county is now 262,738. Over the last seven reporting days, Dallas County officials have announced 10,691 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus for an average of 1,527 per day.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been trending downward for more than two weeks. On Friday, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Dallas County dropped below 1,000 -- the number reported Wednesday was 932 patients through Tuesday.

With the 50 deaths added Wednesday, there have now been 2,320 deaths in the county attributed to the virus since March 2020. The latest victims announced Tuesday included people whose ages ranged from their 40s to their 100s.

• A man in his 40s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 40s who was a resident of the City of Richardson. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 40s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 40s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 50s who was a resident if the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 50s who was a resident of the City of Richardson. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 50s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the city of Duncanville. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Balch Springs. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying health conditions.
• A woman in her 60s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Rowlett. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 60s who was a resident of the City of Garland. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. He died in the facility.
• A woman in her 60s who was a resident of the City of Carrollton. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 60s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Irving. She died in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 60s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 60s who was a resident of the City of Irving. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 60s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 70s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70s who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 70s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 70s who was a resident of the City of Irving. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 70s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Richardson. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 70s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of the City of Richardson. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Carrollton. She died in the facility.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of the City of Garland. He died in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Carrollton. She died in a facility.
• A woman in her 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Duncanville. He died in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 80s who was a resident of the City of Farmers Branch. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 80s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. He died in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Lancaster. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the city of Dallas. She died in the facility.
• A man in his 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He died in an area hospital ED.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of the City of Coppell. She died in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Richardson. He died in the facility and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A man in his 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She died in a facility.
• A woman in her 90s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Mesquite. She died in a facility.
• A woman in her 100s who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Dallas. She died in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.

COVID-19 VACCINE EFFORTS

In partnership with the state health department, Dallas County opened a large-scale vaccine hub at Fair Park in January where they planned to administer up to 2,000 vaccines per day for those in Phase 1A and 1B. The vaccination center does not accept walk-ups and you must have an appointment to get vaccinated. Register for an appointment at the link below. The county is also planning on providing vaccines at two other locations in the county where they can administer an additional 1,000 vaccines per day.

On Tuesday, county officials said they planned to transition the Fair Park hub to a drive-through model that can administer up to 12,000 doses of the vaccine per day.

Jenkins said Wednesday the county has administered 34,165 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine at the county's Fair Park vaccine hub since it opened on Jan. 11. The county received 9,000 more doses for this week and Jenkins said Wednesday there are about 3,000 doses remaining for the week.

The judge reiterated that those who have received their first shot of the vaccine do not need to make an appointment for their second dose -- the date of the second appointment, he said, is on the back of the vaccination card received when the first dose was administered.

COVID-19 Vaccines

In Texas, the COVID-19 vaccines are currently available to anyone over the age of 5. The vaccines are still not approved for children younger than 5 however -- those trials are ongoing.

Once vaccinated, people who received either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines are expected to get some level of protection within a couple of weeks after the first shot, but full protection may not happen until a couple of weeks after the second shot. For those who receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine -- there is only one shot needed.

As of Jan. 3, 2022, it is also recommended those who are age 12 and up and who have been fully vaccinated receive a booster as early as five months after their last dose, for a total of three shots. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech is the only U.S. option for children of any age.

As for even younger children, kid-size doses for 5- to 11-year-olds rolled out in November and experts said healthy youngsters should be protected after their second dose for a while. But the FDA also said on Jan. 3, 2022, that if children that young have severely weakened immune systems, they will be allowed a third dose 28 days after their second. That’s the same third-dose timing already recommended for immune-compromised teens and adults.

Pfizer and Moderna are studying their vaccines, in even smaller doses, for children younger than 5.

Even when fully vaccinated, it's still possible to become infected by the virus since none of the vaccines offer 100% protection from infection. With that in mind, even if you've been vaccinated it's still a good idea to wear a mask and keep some separation between strangers or those whose vaccination status is unclear.

Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services shows where COVID-19 vaccines have been sent around the state. Click on a marker to find out information about each location. Use the "plus" and "minus" signs below to zoom in and out of the map.

From the Texas DSHS: Availability of COVID-19 vaccines lilsted on this map are based on shipping information and reporting to the DSHS directly by facilities. Please contact providers in advance to confirm vaccination location and hours, that they have vaccine on hand and that you are eligible for vaccination at that site. Not all providers are vaccinating the public or people in all priority groups. Vaccine is available at no charge, regardless of insurance status.