DALLAS — Both Tarrant and Dallas counties have now recorded grim milestones: more than 2,000 people in each county have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, officials report.
The news comes as the U.S. has surpassed an estimated 25 million confirmed cases— the country now accounts for roughly one of every four cases reported worldwide and one of every five deaths.
Officials with Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 12 additional COVID-19 deaths Sunday, crossing the county past 2,000 deaths from coronavirus to a total of around 2,008 people so far.
The 12 deaths reported Sunday in Dallas County are:
- A Mesquite woman in her 50s who died in hospice care
- A Garland man in his 60s
- A DeSoto man in his 70s
- A Lancaster woman in her 70s
- A Dallas man in his 70s
- A Garland man in his 70s who had lived at Winter Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
- A Dallas man in his 80s
- A Dallas man in his 80s
- A Mesquite man in his 80s who had lived at a long-term care facility
- A Grand Prairie man in his 80s who died in hospice care
- A Dallas man in his 90s who had lived at a long-term care facility
- A Dallas woman in her 90s
All of the people reported dead had underlying high-risk health conditions, according to the county.
There will be 9,000 vaccine doses available this week in Dallas County, officials said, with the city of Dallas opening its own drive-thru site.
The doses come at a critical time in the county's fight against COVID-19: officials said they have now found a fourth case of the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 in Dallas County residents who did not recently travel outside of the U.S. This is the more highly transmissible variant of the virus, according to the CDC.
The county is still reporting a high number of new daily cases, with 1,174 total new cases of coronavirus Sunday. Of those, the county had 1,071 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases, putting Dallas County at 218,039 total confirmed cases and 28,781 total probable cases since tracking began in March.
Tarrant County crossed the 2,000-death threshold on Saturday when it reported 21 people had died, 19 of whom had underlying health conditions, according to the county.
Those 21 people included:
- A Fort Worth woman in her 30s
- A Haltom City man in his 50s
- A River Oaks woman in her 50s
- Two Fort Worth men in their 50s
- A Mansfield woman in her 60s
- A Watauga woman in her 70s
- A man and woman from Fort Worth in their 70s
- An Arlington man in his 70s
- A Watauga woman in her 70s
- An Arlington man and woman in their 80s
- A Fort Worth man and two women in their 80s
- A Watauga man in his 80s
- An Arlington man in his 80s
- A Grapevine man in his 90s
- A Watauga woman in her 90s
- A Fort Worth man in his 90s
On Sunday, Tarrant County reported 36 more deaths, placing the county at 2,048 total deaths from coronavirus since tracking began in March. More information on those 36 more people who died will be available on Monday, according to the county's COVID-19 dashboard.
Tarrant County also reported 1,736 new confirmed cases of coronavirus Sunday, bringing the county to 207,065 total cases since tracking began in March.
Statewide, Texas has recorded around 34,000 deaths since the pandemic began, officials report. That's around the size of the entire population of Waxahachie.
North Texas hospitals remain strained as beds fill up
As of Saturday, Tarrant County's hospital beds are 89% occupied and the adult ICU beds are 96% occupied. A total of 27% of the county's hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients.
As of Saturday, Jan. 23, hospitals in Dallas are 77% occupied. ICU beds are 83% occupied and 46% of the city's ventilators are in use, according to information from Mayor Eric Johnson.
According to Dallas County, there have been 8,810 COVID-19 cases in school-aged children and staff across 716 different K-12 schools in Dallas County in the last 30 days.
There are currently 111 active long-term care facility outbreaks in the county.
Statewide, Texas officials were reporting 9,731 new confirmed coronavirus cases, 1,358 new probable cases and 208 new deaths Sunday. Around 12,900 Texans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 as well.
There are 721 ICU beds currently available across the entire state, officials estimate, a number that is a bit higher than in recent days. The North Texas region had a hospitalization rate of 21.58% as of Saturday, Jan. 23.