Dallas County added a further 1,129 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, along with 16 additional deaths attributed to the virus. Meanwhile, district officials warn that hospital admissions for COVID-19 have reached the highest level ever in the county, while the availability of the ICU is low.
County health officials said there were 1,018 COVID-19 patients in acute care at Dallas County hospitals through Monday.
“Our hospital numbers are unprecedented and our availability of ICU beds in the region is unprecedentedly low,” Judge Clay Jenkins in Dallas County said Tuesday. “Currently, one in four people hospitalized in Dallas County has COVID-19, and about 30% of those admitted to the region have COVID-19.”
Jenkins added that the new record high “comes as no surprise based on models. While these high numbers are predictable, they are also preventable. Individual changes in behavior and precautions may mitigate the rise. Hospitals are our last line of defense. almost no more beds to take care of our sickest patients. “
In Dallas County, there were only 16 IC beds left. Across the region, the Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council reported just 58 in all of its 19 counties.
President and CEO Stephen Love said many hospitals have already implemented power plans by opening additional COVID units.
He said others have the opportunity to increase the space once capacity is reached by reusing surgical and recovery spaces.
He said the bigger problem will be the number of doctors and nurses who can increase the number of patients.
“The state has done everything it can to help us. But with that high volume, staff becomes a real problem. ”
“The state has done everything it can to help us. But with that high volume, staff is becoming a real problem,” said Love. “Our employees, who are clinical heroes of healthcare, were there in March. They are tired. They are tired. They are worn out. So the more volume you have, the more you will burden the current workforce. ”
Both he and Jenkins urged people to stay at home this New Year’s Eve and avoid gatherings with anyone outside their household.
Don’t let your guard down. Please let us all work together. And then we can celebrate great holidays next year, ”said Love.
Of the cases reported Monday, the province said 882 were confirmed cases and 247 probable cases (antigen test), bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the province as of March to 168,782 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 20,470. The total of confirmed and probable cases in the province now stands at 189,252. In the past seven days, Dallas County officials have confirmed 12,346 and confirmed probable cases of the virus.
The 16 latest victims include an 18-year-old man and a woman in their 60s, both from Garland; a woman in her fifties from Mesquite; a man in his seventies from Richardson; a man in his seventies from Hutchins; a man in his sixties from Carrollton; 10 people from Dallas whose ages ranged from 30 to 80 years. All victims other than the Garland woman and an 80-year-old Dallas woman had underlying health risks, including the teen.
County officials said on Tuesday that there have been 1,596 deaths in the province attributed to the virus. Over the summer, Dr. Philip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, said COVID-19 is the third leading cause of death in the county behind heart disease and cancer.
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The county said the preliminary seven-day average for new confirmed and probable cases by date of a test collection for CDC week 50 was 1,722, which equates to a rate of 65.3 daily new cases per 100,000 residents.
In the past 30 days, 5,971 COVID-19 cases in school-age children and staff have been reported from more than 756 individual K-12 schools in Dallas County, including 569 staff. Since the start of the pandemic, 21 school nurses have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Jenkins issued a warning to those who planned traditional New Year’s Eve gatherings on Monday, urging them to rethink their plans and take precautions against the spread of the virus.
“To help our healthcare heroes make smart decisions and follow the doctor’s advice this New Year season. Wear your mask when you are around people you don’t live with and avoid crowds and gatherings. Think of ways to do that. Celebrate the New Year that is safe not just for us, but for those who will inevitably catch the virus from the people who catch it this New Year, “Jenkins said. “Maybe not you, but your grandmother or someone else’s grandmother who is paying a heavy toll on your decision to have a traditional New Year celebration. Please join the small sacrifice of patriotism to keep our community and country strong until anyone who wants the vaccine can get it and it can get the chance to protect them from the virus. ”