This story will be continuously updated.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins urged people to continue to take precautions as major events come up on the calendar: Texas-OU weekend, early voting and Election Day and Halloween.
It’s the 2020 AT&T Red River Showdown this weekend, when people traditionally host get-togethers for a watch party. But Jenkins discouraged that, saying cases are on the rise.
"I know people are getting COVID fatigued and are hearing mixed messages about things getting better… the numbers are going up and they’re going in the wrong direction," Jenkins said.
Dallas County reported 238 new positive cases of COVID-19 Thursday and four additional deaths, health officials said.
Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Phillip Huang said one of the county's concerns is the recent increase in emergency room visits by people who are suspected and confirmed to have COVID-19.
Continue to wear a mask, watch your social distance and wash your hands, Jenkins encouraged, and continue to avoid large crowds and working out at indoor gyms.
Being in proximity to people is better outdoors than indoors, he said, while still keeping a 6-foot distance.
Halloween
Jenkins says Dallas County health experts and the Center for Disease Control are discouraging traditional trick-or-treating and trunk-or-treating. He offered alternatives, including candy hunts like an Easter egg hunt, car parades for costumes and a distanced family movie night.
"Kids need to stay healthy so they can get back to school [in-person] where they need to be," Jenkins said. "Going into Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have to do what is necessary so kids don’t take COVID back to school and close schools down."
Voting
He said there will be proper health and safety precautions that were used during the summer for runoff elections, which was a time when there were much higher active cases of COVID-19.
The time it takes to vote will take longer this year because there is no more straight-ticket voting, so he encouraged people to vote early.
Bars
The COVID-19 data in Dallas County must have "sufficient improvement" to satisfy medical experts before bars will be allowed to reopen, Jenkins said. He said it was a recommendation from health experts to keep them closed.
On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said that effective Oct. 14, county judges can opt-in to allow bars to reopen at 50% capacity inside.
The deaths reported Thursday include a Dallas woman in her 30s, a Dallas man in his 50s and another Dallas man in his 50s. All had been critically ill at hospitals and had underlying high-risk health conditions. The fourth death was a Dallas man in his 70s who did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
Of the new cases reported, 19 came from the Texas Department of State Health Services. One case was from September and 18 were from October.
During the 24-hour period ending on Oct. 7, 20% of visits to the emergency department in the county were for COVID-19-like symptoms, the health department said.
The positivity rate for patients who are symptomatic and going to the hospital in Dallas County is 10.7%.
The seven-day average for daily new confirmed cases for the week ending on Sept. 26 was an increase from the previous week, according to Dallas County Health and Human Services.
High school football games canceled due to COVID-19 cases
Three high school football games scheduled this week have been canceled due to COVID-19.
Thursday night's varsity football game that was planned between Rider High School and Midlothian High School has been canceled due to a Midlothian student athlete testing positive for COVID-19.
A Boswell vs. Burleson Centennial varsity game was scheduled for Friday. It was canceled due to a positive case at Burleson Centennial.
There will not be a replacement game and pre-purchased tickets will be refunded through Burleson ISD.
A varsity game scheduled Thursday between Thomas Jefferson High School and Poteet High School was canceled after a student-athlete at Jefferson High School tested positive, Dallas ISD said.
It will not be rescheduled.
Tarrant County reports 546 new cases
There were 546 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Tarrant County on Thursday, according to the county dashboard.
Tarrant County health officials also reported five new deaths. All but one of these people had underlying health conditions.
Among those who died was an Arlington woman in her 80s, Haltom City woman in her 60s and three people from Fort Worth, a woman in her 40s, and a man and woman in their 70s.
Since tracking began in March, the county has confirmed 53,838 cases and 685 deaths due to COVID-19.
Denton County reports 110 new cases
Denton County Public Health officials announced 110 new cases of COVID-19, of which 89 are active cases. This increases the countywide total to 13,993 confirmed cases, including 12,019 recoveries.
DCPH says it will host a free drive-thru COVID-19 testing center on Friday, Oct. 9 at UNT’s Discovery Park at 3940 N. Elm Street in Denton. Eligible residents must pre-register by calling 940-349-2585. The test site will open at 8 a.m.
Collin County reports 109 additional cases
Collin County health officials reported 109 new cases Thursday.
There have been 15,091 recoveries, 161 deaths and 15,923 cases since tracking began in March.
There are 104 people hospitalized. The county has a bed capacity of 2,702.
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