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Dallas County Health and Human Services reported a record high of 1,214 new coronavirus cases and six deaths Monday as the county saw its largest one-day jump in hospitalizations.
The deaths include a DeSoto man in his 40s, a Dallas woman in her 50s, a Grand Prairie man in his 60s, a Dallas man in his 70s, and a Dallas woman in her 80s. A woman in her 100s who had been living in a long-term care facility in Dallas also died.
The new numbers bring the county’s total to 27,054 cases and 401 deaths. The number of confirmed cases — 10.3 for every 1,000 residents — has now surpassed 1% of the county’s population.
Texas topped 200,000 coronavirus cases Monday, with 5,318 more reported statewide. Hospitalizations across the state for the virus hit 8,698, the eighth straight day that number has set a record.
County Judge Clay Jenkins said Dallas County saw its largest jump in hospitalizations, with 105 people being hospitalized in one day — a 16% increase.
“We also reached a new milestone in the number of new COVID-19 cases, but it’s the hospitalizations number that we must watch closely,” Jenkins said. “Think of hospitalizations as the sickest of the sick, the part of the iceberg above the water.”
Jenkins also said he sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott with recommendations for how to mitigate the spread of the virus as suggested by the county’s public health committee.
Among the recommendations are limiting gatherings to 10 people, closing bowling alleys and concert venues, and avoiding in-person attendance at faith-based services.
But he urged residents not to wait for the state to take action.
“Please don’t wait for the governor to enact these common sense and scientifically based requests,” Jenkins said. “Please do not frequent businesses on this list and do not participate in in-restaurant dining unless it is on a patio.”
Jenkins also urged the governor to prohibit COVID-19 “parties,” or gatherings intended to deliberately spread the virus. Rumors spread recently that some young people in Alabama were staging competitions in which the person to get infected received a payout, but officials have said they haven’t verified such reports.
In an interview Monday evening with Beaumont’s KFDM-TV, the governor said that acting upon requests from county judges or mayors to shut down the state would “force Texans into poverty.”
Abbott said local officials who are asking for authority to enforce more rules should instead focus on enforcing his current executive orders, such as requiring masks, alleging that they have refused to do so.
“What they need to show is action, not absenteeism,” he said. “They need to show up and enforce law as it is before they’re given any further authority.”
When local officials attempted to force the closure of a North Dallas salon that had opened in late April in defiance of Abbott’s shutdown rules — leading to the salon’s owner being jailed for contempt of court — the governor amended his order, and state regulators consequently dropped 200 cases against barbers and cosmetologists.
Tarrant County Public Health reported 820 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths Monday. The number includes the total cases from Friday to Sunday, the county said.
The recent deaths include an Arlington woman in her 70s and a Fort Worth man in his 80s. Both had underlying health problems.
Tarrant County now has 238 deaths from COVID-19 and 14,828 confirmed cases — 7.1 per thousand residents.
There are 555 hospitalized patients, and 6,188 people have recovered from the virus, according to the county’s statistics.
Collin County
Collin County reported 186 coronavirus cases Monday and one more fatality, bringing the death toll to 47.
The latest victim was a 69-year-old McKinney man who lived at Arbor Hills Memory Care in Plano, where nearly all of the residents tested positive for the coronavirus last month.
The new number brings the county’s total to 3,707, or about 3.6 for every 1,000 residents.
Denton County
Denton County reported 65 new coronavirus cases Monday.
The county’s total number of confirmed cases is 3,403, or about 3.8 positive cases out of every 1,000 residents.
The number of deaths remained at 37, and there have been 1,257 recoveries. Fifty-four patients remain hospitalized.
Other counties
Reporting for some North Texas counties has been taken over by the Texas Department of State Health Services. These are the latest numbers as of 7 p.m. Monday:
- Rockwall County: 395 cases, 16 deaths, 201 recoveries
- Kaufman County: 758 cases, five deaths, 330 recoveries
- Ellis County: 1,075 cases, 19 deaths, 877 recoveries
- Johnson County: 553 cases, four deaths, 234 recoveries