Dallas County and Texas both report highest number of daily cases

DALLAS – Dallas County and Texas are both reporting an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths as the Delta variant continues to spread in the region.

Dallas County Health and Human Services reported nearly 1,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, as well as five deaths, including a teenage girl.

The exact number of new cases for Wednesday is 989, which includes 747 confirmed cases and 242 probable cases. It is the closest Dallas County to 1,000 cases since local health officials reported 1,020 cases on Feb.11.

Since monitoring began in March 2020, the county has reported 270,155 confirmed and 45,206 probable cases of COVID-19. So far, 4,191 Dallas County residents have died from COVID-19.

The five deaths reported by the county were of seriously ill people at an area hospital with underlying health conditions. In addition to the teenager from Dallas, these deaths include:

• A Garland man in his twenties
• Dallas woman in her 50s
• A man from Sunnyvale in his 50s
• Dallas woman in her 60s

Dallas County returned to orange or the “extreme caution” section of its COVID-19 risk level color-coded chart late Friday night, in part due to the continued spread of the Delta variant in the region.

County Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted wednesday the Delta variant is now the predominant strain in North Texas. He cited a model from UT Southwestern indicating that the county would have more than 600 new cases in a single day by August 9.

“[The Delta variant] is very contagious and causes great illness in people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, ”Jenkins tweeted. “The Delta variant is a serious threat to anyone who is unvaccinated. “

Also on Wednesday, Baylor Scott & White Health, one of the largest healthcare systems in North Texas, announced that it will require all employees, suppliers and volunteers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by October 1.

On the same day, Texas as a state had 10,086 new cases as of Wednesday, according to the Texas State Department of Health Services. These are the most daily cases since state officials reported 10,378 new cases on February 11.

Texas had fewer than 5,000 reported cases each day from March 3 to July 21.

The current 14-day state average is 3,975.

The record average occurred from January 4 to 17 when it was 18,915.

RELATED: Baylor Scott & White says all employees and contractors should be vaccinated by October 1

There are currently 457 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Tarrant County, according to health officials. This is down from the 458 the day before. The current 14-day county average is 333.

In the past four days, there have been 99 additional hospitalizations in Tarrant County.

COVID patients currently represent 10% of total hospital bed capacity.

Health authorities reported 442 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. There have been a total of 271,510 cases in the county since follow-up began in March 2020.

There have also been eight additional deaths from COVID-19 reported by officials, including a Crowley man in his 40s and a Grapevine woman in her 40s.

As of Wednesday, 2,036,427 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Tarrant County.

Collin County health officials said the county currently had 201 hospitalizations for COVID-19 on Wednesday. It is against 171 Tuesday.

This is the first time that more than 200 daily hospitalizations have been reported since there were 237 on March 7.

The county’s current 14-day hospital stay average is 147.

Health officials say COVID-19 patients make up 7% of Collin County’s total hospital bed capacity.

There were also 413 new cases of COVID-19 in Collin County on Wednesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

This is the most reported case since the state added 437 new cases on June 12.

The current 14-day average number of cases in the county is 113. A record average of 708 occurred from December 31 to January 13.

RELATED: Fact-Check Misinformation After CDC Updates Mask Guidelines For COVID-19

Denton County health officials reported that there were 10 intensive care beds available at county hospitals. That’s up from nine on Tuesday.

There are currently 57 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county, with a 14-day average of 45 hospitalizations.

Health authorities reported 1,231 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. There are now 79,359 total cases in the county since follow-up began in March 2020.

As of Monday, 206,736 people in Denton County received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 197,528 received their second dose.