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Cases of COVID-19 climbed to 17,528 in Irving, making it the hardest-hit city in Dallas County behind Dallas itself.
The city has an additional 1,260 probable cases. Dallas County counts probable cases separately and does not include them in its confirmed case totals.
In total, 98 Irving residents have died from this virus.
The newly reported cases bring the county’s total confirmed cases to 168,782 and probable cases to 20,470. The county has recorded 1,596 COVID-19 deaths.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Tuesday that COVID-19 hospitalizations are at a record high while the availability of ICU beds in the county is at a record low.
“Currently, 1 in 4 persons hospitalized in Dallas County has COVID and approximately 30% of those hospitalized in the region have COVID,” Jenkins said in a written statement. “With the UT Southwestern projections indicating that our numbers of COVID hospitalizations will rise dramatically by Jan. 5, it is imperative that all of us make the small, smart sacrifices to keep ourselves and our community as healthy as possible in this time of high spread.”
Health officials use hospitalizations, intensive-care admissions and emergency room visits as key metrics to track the real-time impact of COVID-19 in the county. In the 24-hour period that ended Monday, 1,018 COVID-19 patients were in acute care in hospitals in the county — a record. During the same period, 557 ER visits were for symptoms of the disease.
On Monday, Jenkins warned that if UT Southwestern’s forecast for hospitalizations — up to 1,500 by Jan. 5 — ICU beds will be at capacity and some patients will receive “less than optimum” care.
Statewide data
Across the state, 31,278 more cases and 241 COVID-19 deaths were reported Tuesday. Texas has now reported 1,715,978 total cases and 26,762 fatalities.
Of the new cases, 26,990 were confirmed — a record — and 4,288 were probable.
A note on the state dashboard said that some of the cases included in Tuesday’s totals were from previous days, since some counties did not report COVID-19 data over the holiday weekend.
The state has now reported 1,518,499 confirmed cases and 197,479 probable cases.
The state also added 1,030 older confirmed cases and 244 older probable cases that were recently reported by labs.
There are 11,775 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals — a new high — including 3,619 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
On Tuesday, 23.64% of patients in the hospital region covering the D-FW area were COVID-19 patients.
The seven-day average positivity rate statewide for molecular tests, based on the date of test specimen collection, was 17.154% as of Monday. State health officials said using data based on when people were tested provides the most accurate positivity rate.
For antigen tests, the positivity rate for the same period was 11.05%.
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 665 COVID-19 cases. Of those, 117 are active and the rest have recovered.
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.
Testing
A new walk-up COVID-19 testing site is now open.
Parkland Health & Hospital System has partnered with Dallas County Health and Human Services and the city of Dallas to open the site at Parkland’s Irving Health Center, 1800 N. Britain Road.
Hours for the new site will be 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, or until the site reaches capacity each day. Reservations are not required, and results are expected within 48 to 72 hours.
Patients must live in Dallas County and show verification of address, such as a utility bill or government-issued ID.
First responders, DART drivers and healthcare workers can receive a test regardless of where they live if they work in Dallas County. They must provide a valid work ID.
Test recipients must be at least 5 years old.