Irving cases top 9,000 with 74 deaths as Dallas County exceeds 95,000, plus other coronavirus updates

Cases of the novel coronavirus in Irving jumped to 9,345, making it the hardest hit city in the county behind Dallas itself, according to Dallas County.

In total, 75 Irving residents have died from the virus.

Dallas County has reported 95,402 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,108 deaths from the virus.

In addition, Irving has 367 probable cases of the virus. Dallas County counts probable cases separately and does not include them in its confirmed case totals.

“Our number of new COVID-19 cases continues its trend upward and hospitals and medical modelers are telling us that if we don’t change our behavior, we will have numbers exceeding 1,000 cases per day going into Thanksgiving,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement.

Across the state, 6,430 more cases and 119 COVID-19 deaths were reported Thursday. Texas has now reported 886,820 confirmed cases and 17,819 fatalities.

There are 5,587 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, including 1,516 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The seven-day average positivity rate statewide, based on the date of test specimen collection, was 9.8% as of Wednesday. State health officials said using data based on when people were tested provides the most accurate positivity rate.

The state also provides a positivity rate based on when lab results were reported to the state; that rate stood at 10.1% as of Wednesday.

Dallas County’s case counts for Irving are updated Tuesday and Friday.

Schools

Since Aug. 10, when staff reported to work, Irving ISD has reported 186 COVID-19 cases. Of those, 42 are active and the rest have recovered.

Irving has the lowest enrollment for face-to-face classes compared to other area school districts, such as Dallas, Plano and Frisco, according to an analysis by The Dallas Morning News.

About 39% of the 32,638 students registered in Irving returned to classrooms, while the other 61% took their lessons online, according to district data.

An average of 53.2% of Dallas ISD students returned to face-to-face classes, although some schools exceed those percentages. In Plano, about 47% of students returned to campus and in Frisco, 45%, the analysis found.

Businesses

The city of Irving expanded a program aimed at helping small businesses that have suffered financially from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Independently owned franchises are now eligible to apply, as well as sole proprietors and home-based business owners. Businesses can receive up to $50,000 in forgivable loans.