DALLAS — Dallas County data shows COVID cases among kids have increased 10.3% in the last week.
“We're seeing a bigger increase in (cases in) kids than we are in adults,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. “Keep in mind that these numbers are much lower than reality because so many people are using the home test.”
This comes at a time when most Dallas ISD students are getting ready to head back to school one week from Monday on Aug. 15.
“Children generally are more social,” Jenkins said. “And with school coming back, they're going to be around each other even more.”
In addition to a rise in COVID cases, Dallas County is also seeing an uptick in monkeypox cases.
Dallas ISD said they are keeping a close eye on the county’s overall health situation and will take actionable measures if they need to.
Tarrant County leaders are watching COVID and monkeypox cases closely, too.
“Parents need to be aware: It can happen as schools and colleges open. Family members, friends, somebody in your circle has monkeypox: It can seep into a school setting or a college setting,” Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja said.
Education at a time like this is important, Taneja said.
“Vaccine preventable diseases do tend to have an outbreak when lots of kids show up and they're not protected,” Taneja said.
To help protect kids, Tarrant County kicked off its back to school vaccination clinics on Aug. 1, offering school-required shots, plus the COVID vaccine.
In the clinics’ first three days, Taneja said they gave 2,700 doses of different vaccines to 1,100 people, describing it as “a big demand.”
These vaccination clinics are open six days a week for the rest of the month and rotate between six locations. Click here for the full schedule.
Tarrant County Public Health is encouraging parents not to wait until the last minute to get their kids vaccinated.
“You don't want to do it like the day before school’s about to open because you haven't given the child’s body enough time to actually build the immunity,” Taneja said. “It takes several days, sometimes up to two weeks.”