Dallas County is reporting record numbers of hospitalizations for COVID-19 and new cases on Tuesday, along with another 14 deaths.
The county reported a record 3,549 positive cases on Tuesday, which was 350 more than its previous mark, but also a record 1,222 patients with COVID-19 who were in county hospitals until Monday night. They also reported 462 visits to the ER on Monday for people with symptoms of COVID-19.
Of the cases notified on Monday, the county said 2,979 confirmed cases and 570 probable cases (antigen test), bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county from March 2020 to 197,359 and the number of probable cases ( antigen test) for 25,276. The total number of confirmed and probable cases in the municipality is now 222,635. In the past seven days, Dallas County officials have reported 18,260 new and confirmed confirmed cases of the virus to an average of 2,609 per day.
County officials said on Monday that there were 1,791 deaths in the county attributed to the virus since March 2020. The 14 victims announced on Tuesday include people aged 40 to 80, who were all hospitalized and residing in Dallas, Highland Park, Mesquite and DeSoto.
With the deaths announced on Tuesday, the city of Dallas has lost 1,000 residents to the virus since March 2020.
“We are in our most difficult time for the spread of COVID. Activities that seemed safe to you weeks ago are far less safe now,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a statement on Tuesday. “A lot of focus is on the vaccine now, as it should be, but the task of ensuring orderly and rapid vaccination falls on some of us in emergency response and healthcare. The task of maintaining security and keeping the spread of COVID low falls to about all of you. “
COVID-19 VACCINE EFFORTS
In partnership with the state health department, Dallas County opened a large-scale vaccine center in Fair Park on Monday, where it planned to administer up to 2,000 vaccines per day for Phases 1A and 1B. The vaccination center does not accept visits and you must make an appointment to be vaccinated. Sign up for an appointment at the link below. The county is also planning to provide vaccines at two other locations in the county, where it can administer an additional 1,000 vaccines per day.
The vaccine is currently being administered only to those who are part of Phases 1A and 1B, as described by the Texas Department of Health Services. Those in Phase 1A are frontline health professionals or residents of long-term care facilities. Phase 1B includes those over 65 or those over 16 with a chronic medical condition that puts them at risk for serious illness.
Once vaccinated, people are expected to achieve some level of protection a few weeks after the first injection, but full protection may not happen until a few weeks after the second injection. Even when fully vaccinated, it is still possible to be infected by the virus, as the vaccine does not offer 100% protection.