Dallas County reports record numbers of both COVID-19 hospitalizations and new cases Tuesday, along with 14 more deaths.
The county reported a record 3,549 positive cases on Tuesday, 350 more than their previous high score, as well as a record 1,226 COVID-19 patients who were in provincial hospitals through Monday evening. They also reported 462 Monday ER visits for people with COVID-19 symptoms.
Of the cases reported on Monday, the county said 2,979 were confirmed cases and 570 probable cases (antigen test), bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the county as of March 2020 to 197,359 and the number of probable (antigen test) cases to 25,276. The total of confirmed and probable cases in the province now stands at 222,635. In the past seven days, Dallas County officials have reported 18,260 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus for an average of 2,609 per day.
County officials said on Monday that there have been 1,791 deaths in the province attributed to the virus since March 2020. The 14 victims announced Tuesday include people ages 40 to 80, all of whom were hospitalized and who were residents of Dallas, Highland Park. Mesquite and DeSoto.
With the deaths announced Tuesday, the city of Dallas has now lost 1,000 residents to the virus since March 2020.
“We are in our most difficult time for COVID spread. Activities that seemed safe to you weeks ago are now much less safe,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a statement Tuesday. “A lot of attention is now being paid to the vaccine, as it should be, but the task of ensuring an orderly and prompt vaccination is for some of us in emergency and healthcare.”
COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts
In partnership with the health department, Dallas County opened a large-scale vaccine hub in Fair Park on Monday, where they planned to administer up to 2,000 vaccines per day for those in stages 1A and 1B. The vaccination center does not accept walk-ups and you must have an appointment to be vaccinated. Sign up for an appointment via the link below. The county also plans to provide vaccines at two other locations in the county, where they can administer an additional 1,000 vaccines per day.
The vaccine is currently only being administered to those who are in stages 1A and 1B, as outlined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Those in phase 1A are primary health care workers or residents of long-term care facilities. Stage 1B includes those over the age of 65, or those over the age of 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 within a few weeks of the first injection, but full protection cannot occur 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 provide 100% protection.