Why Dallas County saw a big drop in newly confirmed coronavirus cases Monday
Dallas County confirmed 43 additional coronavirus cases Monday morning, a major drop-off in new cases after a rough several days that included multiple 100-case days, several deaths and 97 new cases on Sunday.
There are a total of 1,155 known COVID-19 cases in the county, including recovered patients and 18 deaths.
“While today’s positive case count is encouraging, I caution about reading too much into this number as several private labs were closed on Sunday,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a news release Monday. “Having said that, the hospital systems are seeing evidence that the Dallas County Safer at Home executive order enacted on March 22nd is working to flatten the curve. Please continue adherence to the Safer at Home order to help save lives.”
Jenkins asked residents to consider wearing a cloth face covering “to protect your neighbors from your droplets,” but cautioned that “cloth coverings are only 10-15% effective at protecting you.”
“You must still maintain safe distancing of a minimum of six feet to stay safe,” he said. “Your actions are critical for us to defeat COVID-19, save lives, and get back to normal life as soon as we can.”
More than 70% of hospitalized patients in Dallas County have either been 60 or older or have at least one known high-risk, chronic health condition. Specifically, diabetes has been an underlying condition reported in almost 30% of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 1:17 PM.
