DALLAS — This story will be updated on March 31 as new information is released.
Long-term care facilities in North Texas are seeing a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases, according to statistics from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
State health officials include Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Grayson, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise counties in Region 3. The makeup of these locations includes nursing facilities and assisted living facilities.
There were four new COVID-19 cases added in nursing facilities and assisted living facilities Wednesday, health officials said. The last time there were more than 100 reported cases happened on Feb. 26, when there were 383 cases.
In March, Region 3 averaged eight new cases a day. This is the lowest monthly average since the state started tracking these numbers in late July.
The highest monthly average happened in December when North Texas long-term care facilities were averaging 195 cases a day.
Texas child care centers seeing record-low number of cases
Texas child care centers have seen some of the lowest numbers of daily COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks.
Child care centers along with before-school and after-school programs have to report COVID-19 cases to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Those cases are reported daily here.
These facilities currently have a 14-day average of 15.5 new cases a day. The record-low happened from Aug. 25 through Sept. 7 when there were 15.07 new cases a day.
The record-high happened from Jan. 19 through Feb. 1 when these facilities averaged 115 new cases a day.
While there were 21 consecutive reported days in January and February with more than 100 new cases for both employees and children combined, this number has remained below 100 since Feb. 7.
State officials most recently reported Saturday that there were 41 new cases of COVID-19 in these facilities.
Dallas County adds 18 confirmed deaths
Dallas County health officials announced 18 new confirmed COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, bringing the county total to 252,041 since tracking began in March.
These deaths ranged from a Garland woman in her 50s to a Balch Springs man in his 80s.
Health officials also announced 364 cases Wednesday, bringing the county total to 3,527 since tracking began in March.
Of these new cases, 198 are considered probable because they came from antigen tests.
"We all have a role to play and your role is to get registered to be vaccinated, get vaccinated as soon as your name is called, and keep making the smart decisions that will keep us safe until we can reach herd immunity," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a Tweet.
There are currently 173 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Dallas County.
Tarrant County reports 223 new cases
Health officials reported 223 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. There have been 250,869 total cases in the county since tracking began in March 2020.
Tarrant County Public Health said that as of Wednesday, there are 168 people hospitalized with COVID-19.
This is the sixth consecutive day the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has been below 200.
The COVID-19 patients make up 4% of the total hospital bed capacity. The county currently has a 14-day average of 200 hospitalizations.
There were six reported deaths on Wednesday, bringing the county total to 3,290 since tracking began in March.
The deaths include an Arlington woman in her 90s, a Fort Worth woman in her 80s, an Arlington man in his 60s, a Fort Worth man in his 60s, a North Richland Hills man in his 50s, an Arlington man in his 40s. All had underlying health conditions.
As of Wednesday, 561,285 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been given out in Tarrant County.
Collin County has second straight day with fewer than 100 hospitalizations
Collin County currently has 94 COVID-19 hospitalizations as of Wednesday. This is the second straight day the county has had fewer than 100 hospitalizations.
The past two days is the first time this number has been below 100 since early October.
Health officials say COVID-19 patients make 3% of Collin County's total hospital bed capacity.
Denton County reports 23 available ICU beds
Denton County Public Health said there are currently 23 ICU beds available in the county's hospitals as of Wednesday.
COVID-19 patients currently make up 31% of the current Denton County patients in ICU beds.
Local officials announced 129 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. There have now been 71,881 total cases, including 466 confirmed deaths since tracking began in March.
There are currently 41 people hospitalized with COID-19 in Denton County.
As of Wednesday, 153,018 people in Denton County have received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 66,734 have received their second doses.
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