Dallas County adds 50 deaths from COVID-19, breaking the 1-day record

Dallas County on Wednesday reported a record 50 deaths in a single day from COVID-19, as well as an additional 1,356 coronavirus cases.

The previous record for fatalities on a county day was 40, set twice in the past eight days.

Twenty of the latest victims were residents of Dallas. They were divided equally between men and women, and were between 40 and 100 years old.

The remaining 30 victims were between 40 and 90 years old and included 18 men and 12 women. Five were from Richardson, five from Mesquite, four from Garland, four from Irving, three from Carrollton, two from Duncanville, two from Grand Prairie and one from Balch Springs, Coppell, Farmers Branch, Lancaster and Rowlett.

Nineteen lived in long-term care facilities and all but five victims had underlying health problems.

County judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement that The death toll in February will remain high due to the large number of COVID-19 cases reported in December and January.

“As we said, these are going to be our darkest death months so far,” said Jenkins. “If we lose our resolve and stop doing the things we are doing to keep ourselves and our community strong, the battle will continue and we risk not reaching herd immunity before new strains delay us for a long time. “

Jenkins urged residents to forgo meetings for the next Super Bowl weekend. He also encouraged residents in the 1B category of recipients of the state’s vaccine to apply for the vaccine in as many places as they were willing to drive.

Category 1B includes anyone aged 65 and over, as well as anyone aged 16 and over who has a health problem that increases the risk of serious COVID-19 disease.

Of the cases notified Wednesday, 1,016 were confirmed and 340 were likely. The numbers bring the county’s grand total of cases to 262,738, including 231,411 confirmed and 231,411 probable. The death toll is 2,320.

Health officials use hospitalizations, intensive care admissions and visits to emergency rooms as key metrics to track the real-time impact of COVID-19 in the county. In the 24-hour period ended on Tuesday, 932 patients with COVID-19 were in intensive care at hospitals in the municipality. During the same period, 540 visits to the emergency room were for symptoms of the disease.

According to state data, 151,425 people in Dallas County received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 38,139 are fully vaccinated.

Texas

Across the state, an additional 17,620 cases were reported on Wednesday, including 16,943 which are new and 677 older cases recently reported by laboratories.

The state also recorded 418 COVID-19 deaths, increasing its number to 37,288.

Of the new cases, 13,181 were confirmed and 3,762 were probable. Of the oldest cases, 389 were confirmed and 288 were likely. The latest figures bring the state’s total overall cases to 2,433,110, including 2,120,299 confirmed and 312,811 probable.

There are 10,827 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, including 3,017 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As of Tuesday, 18.12% of patients in the region of the hospital that covers the Dallas-Fort Worth area were patients with COVID-19 – above the 15% limit that the state has used to define high hospitalizations.

The statewide seven-day average positivity rate for molecular tests, based on the date of collection of the test specimen, was 13.41% on Tuesday. For antigen tests, the positivity rate for the same period was 7.42%. A molecular test is considered more accurate and is sometimes also called a PCR test; an antigen test is also called a rapid test. Governor Greg Abbott said a positivity rate above 10% is a cause for concern.

According to state data, 2,041,378 people in Texas received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 561,411 are fully vaccinated.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 1,625 cases of coronavirus and 14 deaths on Wednesday.

The latest victims include five people from Fort Worth: a man in his 30s, a woman in his 50s, a man in his 60s and a man and a woman in his 80s. Three people lived in Arlington, including two men in their 60s and 70s and a woman in her 80s.

The remaining seven victims were a man from Grand Prairie and a woman from Haltom City in his 60s; a Lake Worth woman, a Mansfield man and a Watauga woman in her 70s; and a Colleyville woman in her 90s.

All but two victims had underlying health problems.

Of the new cases, 1,311 were confirmed and 314 were likely. The figures bring the county’s grand total of cases to 223,736, including 191,367 confirmed and 32,369 probable. The death toll is 2,291.

According to the city, 1,050 people are hospitalized with the virus as of this Wednesday.

According to the state, 115,849 people in Tarrant County received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 25,423 are fully vaccinated.

Collin County

The state added 808 cases of coronavirus and 10 deaths to the total in Collin County on Wednesday.

No details about the latest victims were available.

Of the new cases, 670 were confirmed and 138 were likely. The numbers bring the county’s grand total of cases to 75,051, including 64,154 confirmed and 10,897 probable. The death toll is 599.

According to the municipality, 436 people are hospitalized with the virus.

According to the state, 55,820 people in Collin County received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 16,151 are fully vaccinated.

Denton County

Denton County reported on Wednesday its first known case of the UK’s most contagious coronavirus variant. It is the fifth known case in northern Texas.

The new strain, known as B.1.1.7, has been confirmed in someone from unincorporated Denton County who had not traveled recently, the county said. No further details were provided.

Denton County Judge Andy Eads urged residents to continue practicing appropriate safety measures, even as vaccine distribution increases.

“We know that these practices work, even with different variants of the COVID-19 virus circulating around the world,” said Eads in a written statement. “All individuals, with or without a vaccine, must continue to follow these basic steps to protect the health and safety of everyone.”

While variant B.1.1.7 is considered to be more contagious than other strains, it does not necessarily cause more serious COVID-19 symptoms, Denton County health officials said.

Dr. Matt Richardson, the county’s director of public health, pleaded with residents not to let their guards fall while the pandemic continues.

“The result of the UK variant B.1.1.7 test here in Denton County underscores what we already know: COVID-19 remains a pandemic and Denton County is at ongoing risk,” he wrote in a statement.

The currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are considered effective against variant B.1.1.7.

Meanwhile, the county also reported 621 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday.

Of the new cases, 411 were confirmed and 210 were likely. The figures bring the total number of cases in the municipality to 55,363, including 43,501 confirmed and 11,862 probable. The death toll is 325.

According to the municipality, 171 people are hospitalized with the virus.

According to state data, 30,702 people in Denton County received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 9,648 are fully vaccinated.

Other counties

The Texas Department of Health Services has taken over the reports for these other northern Texas counties. In some counties, new data may not be reported every day.

The last numbers are:

• Rockwall County: 9,599 cases (7,973 confirmed and 1,626 likely), 103 deaths.
• Kaufman County: 13,401 cases (11,624 confirmed and 1,777 likely), 185 deaths.
• Ellis County: 19,104 cases (16,717 confirmed and 2,387 likely), 242 deaths.
• Johnson County: 16,940 cases (14,879 confirmed and 2,061 probable), 270 deaths.