Dallas County has set a record for the deaths of COVID-19 for the third week, but the number is falling

Dallas County reported 1424 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, as well as another 42 deaths from COVID-19, making it the deadliest week of the pandemic to date.

The youngest victims were mostly in their 50s to the 90s, but a Dallas man in his 30s also died. Nineteen of the victims were residents of Dallas, four were from Richardson and three each lived in Grand Prairie, Irving and Lancaster. Two each lived in Garland, Mesquite and Rowlett, and one each was from Carrollton, Coppell, DeSoto and Sunnyvale.

It was reported that three of the victims – a Grand Prairie woman in her 70s, a Richardson woman in her 80s and a Dallas woman in her 90s – had no underlying high-risk health conditions.

District Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement that officials knew January and February would be ‘difficult months’ due to the high number of cases and holiday gatherings in the preceding months.

“The good news is that numbers are declining, hospitalizations are declining and we are vaccinating thousands of North Texans every day,” Jenkins said.

Of the new cases, 1,153 were confirmed and 271 likely. The numbers bring the case in the province to 265 311 – 233 353 confirmed and 31 958 probably. The death toll is 2,397.

During the first six days of the week, Dallas County announced 218 deaths after reporting 183 the entire previous week. The total obscures the record of 138 from the previous week.

Health officials use hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care and visits to emergencies as key statistics to track the real-time impact of COVID-19 in the country. In the 24-hour period that ended Thursday, 832 COVID-19 patients were in acute care in hospitals across the country. During the same period, 444 ER visits were for symptoms of the disease.

According to state data, 175,402 people in Dallas County received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, while 46,388 were fully vaccinated.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said Friday that the city will receive 5,000 doses of Moderna vaccine to distribute on an appointment basis next week.

Texas

Across the state, 14,556 more cases were reported Friday – 13,951 new cases and 605 older cases recently reported by laboratories.

The state also reported 401 COVID-19 deaths, which increased its toll to 38,128.

Of the new cases, 10,410 were confirmed and 3,541 probably. Of the older cases, 411 were confirmed and 194 likely.

The newly reported cases bring the state to 2,462,886 – 2,143,353 confirmed and 319,533 likely.

There were 10,259 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, including 2,737 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. On Thursday, 16.0% of patients in the hospital region covering the Dallas-Fort Worth area were COVID-19 patients – above the 15% threshold used by the state to define high hospitalizations.

The seven-day average positivity rate across the country for molecular tests, based on the date of collection of the test sample, was 13.2% as of Thursday. For antigen tests, the positivity rate for the same period was 5.8%. A molecular test is considered more accurate and is sometimes also called a PCR test; an antigen test is also called a rapid test. Gov. Greg Abbott said a positive rate of more than 10% is cause for concern.

According to state data, 2,214,644 people in Texas received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, while 668,743 were fully vaccinated.

Tarrant county

Tarrant County reported 1,394 cases of coronavirus and 81 deaths on Friday.

Most victims were in their 60s and older. Thirty-four were residents of Fort Worth and 13 lived in Arlington. Four come from Watauga, three each live in Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Richland Hills and Saginaw. Two were each from Crowley, Lake Worth and White Settlement, one each lived in Azle, Bedford, Colleyville, Grand Prairie, Hurst, Mansfield and Sansom Park, and five were from non-incorporated areas. All 81 had underlying high-risk health conditions.

Tarrant County reports higher death rates on Fridays due to when the state provides death certificates.

Of the new cases, 1,201 were confirmed and 193 likely. That number brings the province’s case to 226,793 – 193,869 confirmed and 32,924 likely. The death toll is 2,387.

According to the province, 967 people have been admitted to hospital with the virus since Thursday.

According to the state, 122,829 people in Tarrant County received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, while 32,956 were fully vaccinated.

Collin county

The state on Friday added 615 cases of coronavirus and ten deaths in the total number of Collin County.

No details about the latest victims were available.

Of the new cases, 439 were confirmed and 176 probable. The numbers bring the province’s case total to 76,091 – 64,872 confirmed and 11,219 probably. The death toll is 618.

According to the province, 405 people were admitted to hospital with the virus.

According to the state, 68,545 people in Collin County received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, while 19,856 were fully vaccinated.

Denton county

Denton County reported 483 cases of coronavirus on Friday. No additional deaths were reported.

The newly reported cases bring the province’s case total to 56 303 – 44 054 confirmed and 12 249 probably. The death toll is 344.

According to the province, 184 people were admitted to hospital with the virus.

According to the state, 34,867 people in Denton County received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, while 11,728 were fully vaccinated.

Denton County Public Health Vaccination Center at Texas Motor Speedway still vaccinated thousands of people Friday. Officials planned to administer 31,500 doses over three days this week. After cancellations and exhibitions, the country administered 9100 doses on Tuesday and 9000 doses on Thursday and was on track to spend the same amount on Friday afternoon.

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: 9,774 cases (8,101 confirmed and 1,673 likely), 107 deaths.
• Kaufman County: 13,585 cases (11,764 confirmed and 1,821 probable), 187 deaths.
• Ellis County: 19,356 cases (16,913 confirmed and 2,443 likely), 247 deaths.
• Johnson County: 17,250 cases (15,105 confirmed and 2,145 likely), 288 deaths.

Staff Writer Charles Scudder contributed to this report.