Seventh coronavirus case in Collin County; authorities have not declared a disaster

Collin County authorities announced on Saturday that a sixth and seventh county resident had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The patients, a 47-year-old woman and 56-year-old man who live in Plano, have no underlying health conditions and are quarantined at home. The county is monitoring 63 people for the coronavirus.

Collin County officials have not declared a state of disaster as other counties, including Tarrant County and Dallas County, have. Those declarations have limited the number of people that are permitted to gather in one place. Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price has also declared a local disaster.

The case of the Plano woman, since it is not believed she had contact with any known presumptive positive individuals, could be an example of community spread.

Collin County had the first presumptive positive case of coronavirus in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, a Frisco man in his 30s who had recently travelled to California. His wife and 3-year-old child later tested presumed positive for the virus.

A 35-year-old McKinney man with no underlying health conditions tested positive for the coronavirus, county officials announced on Wednesday. He has been under self-quarantine at home.

The case, officials said, was unrelated to the Frisco family.

A 40-year-old Frisco woman who tested presumed positive for the coronavirus was the fifth case in Collin County, officials said on Friday. They confirmed she had not travelled out of the state recently but could not say whether she had come into contact with anyone who had been presumed to be positive.

No county employees have tested presumed positive for coronavirus or been under monitoring, the county said.

Collin County officials have announced several measures intended to prevent the spread of coronavirus:

• All non-essential court operations have been postponed until April 1. Essential court proceedings will continue as normal, the county said, but courts will enact their own orders for attorneys and clients.
• County employees with the ability to work remotely have been instructed to do so.
• All non-essential work-related travel has been prohibited. Travel related to training and conferences has been canceled through April 1.
• County employees have been told to cancel all non-essential staff meetings and community meetings, the county said.
• Collin County Commissioners Court is not canceling meetings but non-essential employees have been instructed to watch the court meeting online.
• The Collin County Master Gardener’s 2020 Garden Show set for March 14 and 15 has been canceled.

Staff writer Emerson Clarridge contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 14, 2020 at 1:05 PM.