As of 3:00 pm August 20, 2021, Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 1,529 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County, 1,229 confirmed cases, and 300 probable cases. There is a cumulative total of 290,034 confirmed cases (PCR test). There is a cumulative total of 48,908 probable cases (antigen test). A total of 4,272 Dallas County residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19 illness.
Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) provided more than 500,000 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine at the Fair Park mega-vaccine clinic, which operated January 11 through July 17. A pop-up vaccination clinic at Fair Park will take place on Saturdays through September 18, from 8 am - 2 pm in Lot 13 for Pfizer first and second doses.
The additional deaths being reported today include the following:
- A man in his 40's 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 woman in her 50's who was a resident of the City of Richardson. She had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 50's 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 60's who was a resident of the City of Desoto. She expired in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70's who was a resident of the City of Grand Prairie. He had expired in hospice and did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70's who was a resident of the City of Coppell. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high risk-health conditions.
- A man in his 80's who was a resident of the City of Balch Springs. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 80's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 80's who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 80's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He expired in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
To date, a total of 201 cases with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern have been identified in residents of Dallas County, including 146 cases of B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variants; three B.1.351 (Beta) variants; thirty-two B.1.617.2 (Delta) variants; and twenty P.1 (Gamma) variants. Twenty-one have been hospitalized and three have died. One fully vaccinated patient subsequently became ill from B.1.1.7 infection and died. The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 32 (week ending 8/14/21) was 1,118, which is a rate of 42.2 daily new cases per 100,000 residents.
As of the week ending 8/14/2021, about 64% of Dallas County residents age 12 years and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, including 86% of residents age 65 years and older; 71% of residents between 40-64 years of age; 59% of residents 25-39 years of age; 48% of residents 18-24 years of age; and 43% of residents 12-17 years of age. In the cities of Coppell and Sunnyvale, greater than 88% of residents 18 years of age and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. In the cities of Addison and Highland Park, greater than 80% of residents 18 years of age and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
About 85% of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Week 32 were Dallas County residents who were not fully vaccinated. In Dallas County, 5,681 cases of COVID-19 breakthrough COVID-19 infections in fully vaccinated individuals have been confirmed to date, of which 179 (3.2%) were hospitalized and 22 have died due to COVID-19. Of all Dallas County residents tested for COVID-19 by PCR during the week ending 8/14/2021 (CDC week 32), 17.1% of respiratory specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. For week 32, area hospital labs have continued to report elevated numbers and proportions of respiratory specimens that are positive for other respiratory viruses by molecular tests: parainfluenza (4.8%), rhinovirus/enterovirus (21%), and RSV (26%).
There are currently 57 active long-term care facility outbreaks. A cumulative total of 4,458 residents and 2,554 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 1,137 have been hospitalized and 824 have died. About 19% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities. There have been eleven outbreaks of COVID-19 in a congregate-living facility (e.g. homeless shelters, group homes, and halfway homes) reported within the past 30 days. A cumulative total of 658 residents and 230 staff members in congregate-living facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID19.
New cases are being reported as a daily aggregate, with more detailed data dashboards and summary reports updated on Friday evenings, available at: https://www.dallascounty.org/departments/dchhs/2019-novel-coronavirus/daily-updates.php.
Local health experts use hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ER visits as three of the key indicators as part of determining the COVID-19 Risk Level (color-coded risk) and corresponding guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response. The most recent COVID-19 hospitalization data for Dallas County, as reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council, can be found at www.dallascounty.org/covid-19 under "Monitoring Data,"and is updated regularly. This data includes information on the total available ICU beds, suspected and confirmed COVID-19 ER visits in the last 24 hours, confirmed COVID-19 inpatients, and COVID-19 deaths by actual date of death. The most recent forecasting from UTSW can be found here.