DALLAS - As of 12:00 pm December 21, 2021, Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 1,904 additional positive cases of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Dallas County, 1,614 confirmed cases and 290 probable cases. There is a cumulative total of 356,378 confirmed cases (PCR test). There is a cumulative total of 66,346 probable cases (antigen test). A total of 5,434 Dallas County residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19 illness. Today's press release includes the number of new cases from Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) provided more than 500,000 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine at the Fair Park mega-vaccine clinic, which operated January 11 through July 17. A vaccination clinic is open at the Dallas College Eastfield Campus Location on Tuesdays -Saturdays from 9 am-6 pm. A weekly pop-up vaccination clinic will take place at Fair Park on Sundays, from 10 am -4 pm, starting November 21st, 2021.
The additional deaths being reported today include the following:
- A man in his 50's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 60's who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. She had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60's who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He had been critically ill in an area hospital and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60's who was a resident of the City of Dallas. He expired in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70's who was a resident of the City of Mesquite. He had been hospitalized and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 70's who was a resident of a long-term care facility in the City of Richardson. She expired in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A woman in her 80's who was a resident of the City of Richardson. She expired in hospice and had underlying high-risk health conditions.
To date, a total of 542 cases with SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified and investigated in residents of Dallas County, including 148 cases of B.1.1.7 (Alpha); 4 cases of B.1.351 (Beta); 344 cases of B.1.617.2 (Delta); 11 cases of B.1.427 (Epsilon); 19 cases of P.1 (Gamma); 9 cases of B.1.526 (Iota); 4 cases of C.37 (Lambda); 1 case of B.1.621 (Mu); 1 case of B.1.1.529 (Omicron); and 1 case of P.2 (Zeta). One hundred and 10 cases have been hospitalized and 9 have died. Eight COVID-19 variant cases were reinfections. One hundred and twenty-three people were considered fully vaccinated before infection with a COVID-19 variant. As of 12/17/2021, a total of 2,118 confirmed and probable cases were reported in CDC week 49 (week ending 12/11/21), which is a weekly rate of 100.9 new cases per 100,000 residents.
As of the week ending 12/11/2021, about 76% of Dallas County residents age 12 years and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, including: 95% of residents age 65 years and older; 82% of residents between 40-64 years of age; 73% of residents 25-39 years of age; 62% of residents 18-24 years of age; and 57% of residents 12-17 years of age. In the cities of Addison, Coppell, Highland Park, Irving, and Sunnyvale, greater than 90% of residents 18 years of age and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. In the cities of Desoto, Farmers Branch, Garland and University Park, greater than 80% of residents 18 years of age and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. (See below).
About 73.6% of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Week 49 were Dallas County residents who were not fully vaccinated. In Dallas County, 21,212 cases of COVID-19 breakthrough COVID-19 infections in fully vaccinated inpiduals have been confirmed to date, of which 769 (3.6%) were hospitalized and 198 have died due to COVID-19. Of all Dallas County residents tested for COVID-19 by PCR during the week ending 12/11/2021 (CDC week 49), 7.2% of respiratory specimens tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. For week 49, area hospital labs have continued to report elevated numbers and proportions of respiratory specimens that are positive for other respiratory viruses by molecular tests: parainfluenza (5.7%), rhinovirus/enterovirus (25.5%) and RSV (6.5%).
There are currently 21 active long-term care facility outbreaks. A cumulative total of 4,880 residents and 2,896 healthcare workers in long-term facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these, 1,200 have been hospitalized and 850 have died. About 16% of all deaths reported to date have been associated with long-term care facilities. There have been 4 outbreaks of COVID-19 in a congregate-living facility (e.g. homeless shelters, group homes, and halfway homes) reported within the past 30 days. A cumulative total of 756 residents and 259 staff members in congregate-living facilities in Dallas have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
New cases are being reported as a daily aggregate, with more detailed data dashboards and summary reports updated on Friday evenings, available at: https://www.dallascounty.org/departments/dchhs/2019-novel-coronavirus/daily-updates.php.
Local health experts use hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ER visits as three of the key indicators as part of determining the COVID-19 Risk Level (color-coded risk) and corresponding guidelines for activities during our COVID-19 response. The most recent COVID-19 hospitalization data for Dallas County, as reported to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council, can be found at www.dallascounty.org/covid-19 under "Monitoring Data," and is updated regularly. This data includes information on the total available ICU beds, suspected and confirmed COVID-19 ER visits in the last 24 hours, confirmed COVID-19 inpatients, and COVID-19 deaths by actual date of death. The most recent forecasting from UTSW can be found here.