COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to shatter records in Dallas County

Updated 19:45: Review to include information on the capacity of the hospital in the area.

Dallas County reported another 1,129 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, all of which are considered new. Sixteen new COVID-19 deaths have also been announced.

Meanwhile, the state reported that a record 11,775 Texans were admitted to the hospital Tuesday.

The latest Dallas County victims included nine Dallas residents: a man in his 30s, two men in their 40s, a man in his 60s, two men and a woman in their 70s, and a man and a woman in their 80s. Everyone was hospitalized, and everyone except the woman in her 80s had underlying health conditions.

A Dallas woman in her 50s died at home and had underlying health conditions.

Two Garland residents were among the dead: an 18-year-old man and a woman in her 60s who were each in critical condition. The man had underlying chronic medical conditions; the woman does not.

The remaining victims were a Mesquite woman in her 50s, a Carrollton man in his 60s, a Richardson man in his 70s and a Hutchins man in his 70s. All were critically ill in the hospital and had underlying health conditions.

Dallas judge Clay Jenkins said hospitalizations in COVID-19 are at a record high, while the availability of ICU beds in the country is at a record low.

“Currently, 1 in 4 people hospitalized in Dallas County has COVID, and approximately 30% of those hospitalized in the region have COVID,” Jenkins said in a written statement. “As the projections of the south-western UT indicate that our number of COVID hospitalizations will increase dramatically by 5 January, it is essential that we all make the small, smart sacrifices to keep ourselves and our community as healthy as possible in this time of large distribution. . ”

Of the new cases reported Tuesday, 882 are confirmed and 247 likely. The newly reported cases bring the province’s total confirmed cases to 168 782 and probable cases to 20 470. The province recorded 1,596 COVID-19 deaths.

The province said it only considers positive antigen tests (sometimes called rapid tests) as likely cases; some antibody and “household” results were previously included.

While other North Texas counties give estimates for how many people have recovered from the virus, Dallas County officials do not report recovery, noting that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not use that measure.

Health officials use hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care and emergency visits as key statistics to track the real-time impact of COVID-19 in the country. In the 24-hour period that ended Monday, 1,018 COVID-19 patients were in acute care in hospitals across the country – a record. During the same period, 557 ER visits were for symptoms of the disease.

As of Tuesday, only 31 adult intensive care beds were available in Dallas and Tarrant provinces, according to the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Board. In Dallas alone, there were more than 300 beds available at the start of the pandemic.

In a tweet, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said that in the city’s 25 hospitals, 71% of the beds – or 4,170 out of 5,911 – have been occupied since Tuesday. He also said that 46% of the city’s fans – or about 479 out of 1,035 – are used.

Jenkins warned Monday that if UT Southwestern’s forecast for hospitalizations – up to 1,500 by January 5 – is proven, ICU beds will be at their capacity and that some patients will receive “less than optimal” care.

The county reported that 5,971 COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in the past 30 days in school-age children and staff members from 756 schools in Dallas County. Since March, 21 school nurses have tested positive for COVID-19.

There are 102 active COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, the highest number since the pandemic began, the country said. Of the province’s total COVID-19 deaths, approximately 22% are associated with long-term care facilities.

On Tuesday, the Dallas Sheriff’s Department announced that Sheriff Marian Brown will receive the COVID-19 vaccine this week.

“I trust the healthcare system that caters for people in our custody,” Brown said in a written statement. “It is my hope that it will encourage someone to take it as well if I follow my journey to receiving the vaccine.”

Statewide data

Across the state, 31,318 cases and 241 COVID-19 deaths were reported Tuesday. Texas has now reported 1,715,978 cases and 26,762 deaths.

Of the new cases, 26,990 were confirmed – a record – and 4,288 probably.

A note to the state panel said some of the cases recorded in total on Tuesday were from previous days, as some provinces did not report COVID-19 data over the holiday weekend.

The state has now reported 1,518,499 confirmed cases and 197,479 probable cases.

The state also added 1,030 parent confirmed cases and 244 parent probable cases recently reported by laboratories.

There are 11,775 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals – a new high – including 3,619 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

On Tuesday, 23.64% of the patients in the hospital region covering the D-FW area were COVID-19 patients.

The seven-day average positivity rate across the country for molecular tests, based on the date of collection of the test sample, was 17.154% as of Monday. State health officials said the use of data based on when people were tested provided the most accurate positivity rate.

For antigen tests, the positivity rate for the same period was 11.05%.

Elsewhere in Texas, the U.S. Kidney Care, which provides treatment for people with kidney disease, announced Tuesday that some clinics in Texas will receive monoclonal antibody treatment to treat COVID-19 patients.

The drug, known as Bamlanivimab, is manufactured by Eli Lilly and was obtained through the federal program Operation Warp Speed. Monoclonal antibody agents are used against laboratory-produced antibodies that mimic antibodies that are naturally produced in the body.

The FDA approved Bamlanivimab on November 9th. The drug is used to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 cases in patients older than 12 who have not been hospitalized.

Data recently in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the drug could reduce hospitalizations for high-risk patients with mild to moderate cases of the virus. According to the CDC, people with chronic kidney disease are among those at increased risk for serious diseases if they get COVID-19.

“The ability to apply monoclonal antibody therapy to high-risk COVID-19 positive patients in our clinics – where they receive dialysis care three times a week – can reduce hospitalizations and save lives,” said Dr. Mary Dittrich, Chief Medical Officer. of U.S. Renal Care, said in a written statement.

It was not clear which clinics in Texas would receive the drug.

In addition to Texas, clinics in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland and New Mexico will also receive initial shipments of the drug.

Doctors look at a CT image of the lung in a hospital in Xiaogan, China.

Tarrant county

Tarrant County on Tuesday reported 1,278 cases of coronavirus and 23 new deaths.

The most recent deaths include seven Fort Worth residents: a woman in her 90s, a woman and two men in their 80s, a man in his 70s, a man in his 60s and a man in his 30s.

Four residents of Bedford were among the victims: a woman in her 90s, two men in their 80s and a woman in her 70s.

Three Mansfield residents were also killed: two women in their 80s and a man in his 50s. Two men from Crowley were also admitted, a man in his 70s and a man in his 50s. Two of the victims were from Hurst, a man in his 90s and a woman in her 70s.

The remaining five victims were a Keller man over 100, a Grapevine man in his 80s, two men from Benbrook in their 70s and an Euless woman in her 60s.

The newly reported cases bring the province to 145,279, including 127,256 confirmed cases, 18,023 probable cases and 106,644 recoveries. The death toll stands at 1,448.

According to Tuesday’s numbers on the provincial dashboard, 1323 people are being admitted to hospital with the virus.

Collin county

The state added 1,179 cases of coronavirus to the total Tuesday in Collin County, bringing the score to 47,197. Six new COVID-19 deaths were also reported, bringing the province’s death toll to 357.

No details about the latest victims were available.

Of the new cases, 897 were confirmed and 282 likely. Collin County recorded 42,393 confirmed cases and 4,804 probable cases.

According to state data, the province has 4,506 active cases of the virus and it has recorded 37,887 recoveries.

The province’s coronavirus dashboard offers only total hospitalizations, now at 539.

Denton county

Denton County reported 835 cases of coronavirus – 747 of which are active – and eight new deaths Tuesday.

The most recent deaths include a man and woman over the age of 80 who lived in Cedar Crest Senior Living in Lewisville. Other victims were a Lewisville woman in her 80s, a woman from The Colony in her 70s, a man in his 70s from the unincorporated northwest of Denton County, a woman in her 60s from an unincorporated north- Denton County, a man in his 50s from an unincorporated southeast of Denton. County and a man from Carrollton in his 40s.

The newly reported cases bring the province to 38,094, including 12,502 active and 25,386 recoveries. They also increase total molecular cases to 31,269, while antigen cases stand at 6,825.

The death toll stands at 206.

There are 217 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital, according to the country’s data.

Other provinces

The Texas Department of Public Health has taken over reporting for these other North Texas counties. In some provinces, new data is not reported every day.

The latest numbers are:

  • Rockwall County: 6,011 cases (5,005 confirmed and 1,006 likely), 50 deaths.
  • Kaufman County: 8,985 cases (7,840 confirmed and 1,145 likely), 115 deaths.
  • Ellis County: 12,665 cases (11,164 confirmed and 1,501 likely), 163 deaths.
  • Johnson County: 10,665 cases (9,449 confirmed and 1,216 likely), 150 deaths.

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