Dallas County reports an additional 40 deaths from coronavirus; Tarrant County adds 42 deaths

Updated at 17:15: Revised to include data from Tarrant County.

Dallas County reported 290 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, as well as another 40 deaths from COVID-19.

Most of the latest victims were over 50 years old. Twenty-one lived in Dallas, five were residents of Mesquite and four were from Garland. Two were residents of Duncanville and each lived in Balch Springs, Coppell, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Grand Prairie, Irving, Richardson and Sunnyvale.

Three of them – a Dallas man in his 60s, a Garland man in his 90s and a Mesquite woman in his 90s – had no underlying high-risk health conditions.

Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement that the number of cases remained artificially low because of the weather, but that the reports were expected to return to normal next week.

“The trends we saw before the ice storms were encouraging and I hope that we are starting to turn the corner in the fight against COVID,” said Jenkins.

Of the new cases, 192 were confirmed and 98 were likely. The numbers bring the county’s grand total of cases to 276,339, including 242,286 confirmed and 34,053 probable. The death toll is 2,791.

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 Thursday, 575 patients with COVID-19 were in intensive care at hospitals in the municipality. During the same period, 358 visits to the emergency room were for symptoms of the disease.

According to the state, 250,550 people in Dallas County received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 104,459 are fully vaccinated.

Texas

Across the state, 2,937 more cases were reported on Friday, including 2,791 new cases and 146 older cases recently reported by laboratories.

The state also recorded 172 deaths from COVID-19, bringing its number to 40,986.

Of the new cases, 2,150 were confirmed and 641 were likely. Of the oldest cases, 120 were confirmed and 26 were likely.

The state’s total cases are now 2,577,131, including 2,236,776 confirmed and 340,355 probable.

There are 7,757 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, including 2,057 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. On Thursday, 12.7% of patients in the region of the hospital that covers the Dallas-Fort Worth area were patients with COVID-19 – below the 15% limit the state used 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 11.3% on Thursday. For antigen tests, the positivity rate for the same period was 4.1%. 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 the state, 3,047,251 people in Texas received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 1,278,101 are fully vaccinated.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County reported 765 cases of coronavirus and 42 deaths on Friday.

No details about the latest victims were immediately available. The county has reported a higher death toll on Fridays because of when it receives data from the state’s death certificate.

Of the new cases, 626 were confirmed and 139 were likely. The numbers bring the county’s total cases to 237,676, including 202,980 confirmed and 34,696 probable. The death toll is 2,731.

According to the municipality, 744 people are hospitalized with the virus as of this Thursday.

According to the state, 180,391 people in Tarrant County received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 94,930 are fully vaccinated.

Collin County

The state added 115 cases of coronavirus and two deaths to the Collin County total on Friday.

No details about the latest victims were available.

Of the new cases, 68 were confirmed and 47 were likely. The numbers bring the county’s total cases to 81,062, including 68,613 confirmed and 12,449 probable. The death toll is 688.

According to the latest county update, 329 people have been hospitalized with the virus.

According to the state, 116,970 people in Collin County received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 39,179 are fully vaccinated.

Denton County

Denton County Public Health was closed on Friday because of the weather and did not release a coronavirus update.

The county last reported 60,167 cases in total – 46,439 confirmed and 13,728 probable. The latest death toll is 382. According to the latest county update, 115 people have been hospitalized with the virus.

According to the state, 64,055 people in Denton County received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 26,785 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: 10,274 cases (8,493 confirmed and 1,781 probable), 116 deaths.
• Kaufman County: 14,425 cases (12,380 confirmed and 2,045 probable), 210 deaths.
• Ellis County: 20,331 cases (17,677 confirmed and 2,654 probable), 267 deaths.
• Johnson County: 18,149 cases (15,758 confirmed and 2,391 probable), 304 deaths.