Dallas County health officials reported a record-high 1,206 COVID-19 hospitalizations Friday. This is the fifth day in a row the county has set a new record.
The county has had at least 1,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19 nine consecutive days and is averaging 1,036 the past two weeks. That is a 14-day record.
Local health officials also reported 2,387 new COVID-19 cases Friday, 281 of which are considered probable because they came from antigen tests.
There have now been 188,287 total cases in Dallas County since tracking began in March.
Dallas County health officials reported 21 new COVID-19 deaths Friday.
These include a Dallas woman in her 20s, two Dallas women in their 40s, a Mesquite woman in her 50s, a Dallas man in his 50s, a Garland man in his 60s, a Dallas woman in her 60s, a Dallas man in his 60s, a Duncanville man in his 70s, two Dallas men in their 70s, a Dallas woman in her 70s, a Garland man in his 70s, two Dallas men in their 80s, a Dallas woman in her 80s and a Carrollton woman in her 80s. All had underlying high-risk health conditions.
A Dallas woman in her 50s, a Richardson man in 80s and a Dallas woman in her 90s who did not have underlying high-risk health conditions also died.
A Dallas man in his 50s was found dead in his home.
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Tarrant County reports 127 additional deaths spanning 3-month period
Tarrant County Public Health added 127 additional COVID-19 deaths to the county's total on Friday that occurred between October and December.
County officials say this backlog happened because health leaders are now using new death certificate information from the Texas Department of State Health Services to find additional deaths of Tarrant County residents.
Fort Worth saw the most additional deaths with 81 while Arlington had the second most with 11.
All but 44 of these deaths included people who had underlying health conditions, according to county health officials.
The county now has 1,703 confirmed deaths since the first reported death in March.
Tarrant County Public Health also added 2,998 new COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the total count to 167,732 since tracking began in March.
There are currently 1,524 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Tarrant County. This is down slightly from the record-high 1,528 hospitalizations reported Thursday.
Friday's total makes up 29% of the total bed capacity in the county's hospitals.
Collin County hits second-highest mark for coronavirus hospitalizations
Collin County health officials reported there are 560 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday, up from 551 on Wednesday. This is the highest the hospitalizations have been since Jan. 4 when there were 575 patients in the hospitals with the virus.
Friday's total makes up 21% of the total bed capacity in the county's hospitals.
Collin County has had more than 500 COVID-19 hospitalizations every day since Dec. 28.
Denton County adds nearly 3,000 cases past five days
Denton County Public Health announced 613 cases of COVID-19 Friday, giving the county 2,885 new cases during the past five days.
There have now been 42,708 cases since tracking began in March.
There is currently a record-high 227 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Denton County. This breaks the previous record set Thursday when there were 225.
COVID-19 patients in the county's hospitals currently make up 24% of the total bed capacity.
Texas sees 1st case of new variant amid push for more shots
Texas has reported its first known case of a person infected with the new variant of the coronavirus.
State and local health officials said the patient is a Houston-area man between the age of 30 and 40 who has no known travel history. Harris County officials said the man was in stable condition and isolated.
Texas joins a handful of states to report the new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19.
State health officials say there is no evidence it causes more severe disease, and they expect current vaccines to be effective.
Gov. Abbott plans to tour Arlington vaccination site next week
Gov. Greg Abbott is planning to visit the Arlington Expo Center vaccination site Monday and provide an update on the state's COVID-19 vaccine distribution process.
The Governor will be joined by Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt, Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams, Tarrant County Judge B. Glen Whitley, and Texas Health Resources CEO Barclay E. Berdan.
Gov. Abbott is set to arrive at 11:30 a.m.
Garland Health Department providing vaccine to people living in Sachse
The Garland Health Department is going to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to Sachse residents, regardless of what county the person lives in.
The health department is currently collecting names of people who want to receive the vaccine when supplies allow.
Those who wish to receive the vaccine must fall into the following categories:
- In Phase 1A or Phase 1B
- At least 18 years old
- A resident or employee of the cities of Garland, Rowlett or Sachse
To register and fill out a vaccine registration form, you can click here.
For more information about Garland's vaccine distribution information, you can click here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.