Dallas County adds 20 COVID-19 deaths; 183 deaths in 7 days break record set just a week ago

Updated 18h15: Revised to include data from Dallas County.

Dallas County reported on Saturday 1,407 new cases of coronavirus and a further 20 deaths from COVID-19.

That marked the deadliest week of the pandemic so far, with 183 deaths, said Judge Clay Jenkins. This breaks the previous high of 138, set just a week earlier.

The latest victims – most in their 60s and over – included 10 people from Dallas, two from each Farmers Branch, Garland and Irving, and one from Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville and Richardson. Almost all were hospitalized and all but one had underlying health problems.

Jenkins said that while hospitalizations for COVID-19 have dropped slightly in recent weeks, county health officials are concerned about UT Southwestern’s most recent projections. Their forecast model predicts between 910 and 1,390 people will be hospitalized in Dallas County on February 9.

This is less than previous projections, but it will still be “immense pressure” on health systems, the county said in a press release.

Of the new cases notified on Saturday, 1,170 were confirmed and 237 were likely.

The county reported 256,900 cases in total, including 226,452 confirmed and 30,448 probable. The death toll is 2,179.

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 Friday, 989 patients with COVID-19 were in intensive care at hospitals in the municipality. During the same period, 512 visits to the emergency room were for symptoms of the disease.

According to state data, 136,028 people in Dallas County received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 30,650 are fully vaccinated.

Texas

Across the state, an additional 19,569 COVID-19 cases were reported on Saturday, including 18,109 new cases and 1,460 older cases that were recently reported by laboratories.

The state also recorded 332 deaths from COVID-19, bringing its number to 36,320.

Of the new cases, 14,969 were confirmed and 3,140 were probable. Of the oldest cases, 1,068 were confirmed and 392 were likely.

The state has already notified 2,349,262 cases in total, including 2,049,055 confirmed and 300,207 probable. (The state also removed 335 cases from the total confirmed cases due to a data audit in Hays County.)

There are 11,473 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, including 3,173 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As of Friday, 19% of patients in the region of the hospital that covers the Dallas-Fort Worth area were patients with COVID-19 – above the 15% limit the state uses to define high hospitalizations.

The statewide seven-day average positivity rate for molecular testing, based on the date of collection of the test sample, was 14.77% on Friday. For antigen tests, the positivity rate for the same period was 7.93%. 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.

State expects large influx of vaccine

Texas is expected to receive significantly more COVID-19 vaccines next week, the state health department said. Providers will receive 520,425 first doses of the vaccine and 188,225 second doses for people vaccinated a few weeks ago.

The additional doses are largely due to a 30% increase in the number of modern vaccines provided by the federal government, the state said.

The increase is also due to the return to the state of 126,750 additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine, initially reserved for the Federal Pharmaceutical Partnership Program for Long-Term Care. The program overestimated how many doses would be needed, said the state health department.

The state said it has been working with providers to ensure they have a second enough dose for patients vaccinated a few weeks ago. People should be able to return to the provider that gave them the first dose, the state said.

According to state data, 1,842,287 people in Texas received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 448,649 are fully vaccinated.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 1,862 coronavirus cases and 16 deaths on Saturday.

The latest victims – most 60 or older – included seven people from Fort Worth, two from North Richland Hills and one from Arlington, Euless, Haltom City, Hurst, Mansfield, Saginaw and Watauga. They all had underlying health conditions, the county said.

Of the new cases, 1,560 were confirmed and 302 were likely.

The county has already reported 216,910 cases in total, including 187,038 confirmed and 29,872 probable. The death toll is 2,176.

According to the city, 1,177 people were hospitalized with the virus until Friday.

According to the state, 104,775 people in Tarrant County received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 17,729 are fully vaccinated.

Collin County

The state added 505 cases of coronavirus and seven deaths to the total in Collin County on Saturday.

No details about the latest victims were available.

Of the new cases, 331 were confirmed and 174 were likely.

The county reported 72,370 cases in total, including 61,854 confirmed and 10,516 probable cases. The death toll is 573.

According to the municipality, 496 people are hospitalized with the virus.

According to the state, 51,046 people in Collin County received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 13,339 are fully vaccinated.

Denton County

Denton County reported 306 cases of coronavirus and no deaths on Saturday.

The county reported 53,554 cases in total, including 42,349 confirmed and 11,205 probable cases. The death toll is 318.

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

According to the state, 28,383 people in Denton County received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 7,953 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: 9,337 cases (7,762 confirmed and 1,575 probable), 100 deaths.
• Kaufman County: 13,005 cases (11,281 confirmed and 1,724 probable), 182 deaths.
• Ellis County: 18,561 cases (16,240 confirmed and 2,321 probable), 232 deaths.
• Johnson County: 16,483 cases (14,503 confirmed and 1,980 probable), 263 deaths.