Healthcare facilities in Dallas County are starting to get overwhelmed by patients aged 20 to 40 years old, says County Judge Clay Jenkins as the latest figures showed three-day totals of three COVID-19 deaths and 1,453 new coronavirus infections.
An obviously exasperated Jenkins admitted in a written statement that the county-based hospitals have already reached a critical level for their bed capacity even as he hinted at coronavirus patients aged 20 to 40 years old as literally dominating hospital occupancy.
Noting that that age group includes parents whose children are set to go back to school, Jenkins urged the residents to cooperate with school districts encouraging students to wear protective masks on school campuses.
“We’re all tired of COVID and we’re all tired of the fight, but we cannot give up now,” Jenkins said in a statement.
Of the newly recorded cases, 1,296 were classified as confirmed while the remaining 157 are still deemed as probable. To date, the county’s overall caseload now stands at 314,372, including 269,408 confirmed and 44,964 probable. The death toll is 4,186.
Dallas County, which does not release COVID-19 updates on weekends and instead reports three-day totals on Tuesdays, now nurses 404 average number of new daily cases for the last two weeks. Previously, the 14-day average was 164.
Moreover, 350 people were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 infections.
As for the state vaccination efforts, 1,330,385 people in Dallas County have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 1,131,298 — 51.9% of the county’s population 12 and older — are fully vaccinated.
Across the state, Tuesday figures had Texas recording 8,642 more cases, including 8,500 new cases. The remaining 142 cases form part of the belated data coming from the labs. The state also reported 37 COVID-19 deaths, which now brings to 51,890 the total number of deaths.
Of the new cases, 6,571 were confirmed and 1,929 were probable. Of the older cases, 95 were confirmed and 47 were probable.
The state’s caseload stands at 3,075,316, including 2,611,808 confirmed and 463,508 probable. It also reported 4,982 hospitalizations due to the virus, including 1,245 in North Texas — the highest since early March.
Test positivity rates also rose to 14.7% for molecular tests and 9.0% for antigen, or rapid, tests. Gov. Greg Abbott has said a positivity rate above 10% is cause for concern.
According to the state, 14,657,490 people in Texas have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 12,572,118 — 52.2% of the state’s population 12 and older — are fully vaccinated.
