Dallas County reports 8th, 9th coronavirus deaths and 72 new cases; Denton, Johnson counties report 1 death each

Dallas County reported its eighth and ninth deaths related to coronavirus on Saturday, along with 72 additional positive cases.

The eighth and ninth deaths are a DeSoto resident in his 50s who had no underlying health conditions and a Dallas man in his 70s. Both men had been critically ill in area hospitals, the county said.

“This serves as a sober reminder that COVID-19 is a dangerous disease for everyone and is why it’s so important that we all need to stay home to stay safe,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a prepared statement. “I am so proud of the work of our first-responders, health heroes and our executive teams, but I’m also proud of the spirit of community that we are seeing through North Texas. Together, we’ll #flattenthecurve.”

After slightly lower daily case counts on Thursday and Friday, the latest report inched back up toward the county’s one-day high of 78 cases reported Wednesday.

Dallas County now has 439 positive cases. That does not include people who were treated or tested in Dallas County but live elsewhere.

No other details about the new cases were made available. Dallas County health officials have started releasing a more detailed demographic breakdown of cases on Tuesdays and Fridays.

PUBLIC HEALTH

What you need to know about coronavirus

BY WIRE SERVICES AND TOM STEELE

The most recent deaths come a day after Dallas County health officials warned that hospitalizations due to the virus are increasing. About a third of all positive cases as of Friday had required hospitalization, county health officials said. Of the 111 people hospitalized by that day, 40 had required treatment in intensive care, according to the most recent county data.

The county said about two-thirds of hospitalizations have been among people who are either older than 60 or who have at least one chronic health condition.

Dallas County was the first in North Texas to issue a shelter-in-place order in response to the outbreak. County and public health officials say the measure is important to “flatten the curve,” a phrase that refers to efforts to slow the infection rate so that hospitals and health-care providers are not overwhelmed and unable to effectively treat patients.

Dallas-area hospitals have also called for Gov. Greg Abbott to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order, warning that their hospital capacity may be depleted by early April if more extreme measures aren’t put in place.

Health experts have said positive cases will continue to rise as testing becomes more available.

In Dallas County, two drive-through testing sites are available to test anyone who has a fever of 99.6 degrees or higher, is coughing or experiencing shortness of breath. The sites are at American Airlines Center near downtown Dallas and Ellis Davis Field House in the Red Bird area.

Collin County

The county reported 11 new cases on Saturday, bringing its total to 129.

According to county officials, four cases were confirmed in Plano, three in Dallas, two in McKinney and one each in Frisco and Lucas.

Seven of the cases were women, including the three in Dallas — a 26-year-old, 47-year-old and 51-year-old, officials said. No information was available about how they contracted COVID-19.

The Plano cases include a 27-year-old man, a 32-year-old man and a 35-year-old man, and a 55-year-old woman. No further information was provided.

Others who tested positive were a 68-year-old man in Lucas, a 61-year-old woman in Frisco, a 65-year-old woman in McKinney and a 93-year-old woman in McKinney.

The 93-year-old patient was hospitalized with no recent travel history or known contact with another patient. No further information was released about the other patients.