Dallas County officials expect 1,000 COVID-19 cases Friday, blowing past the record
Dallas County officials expect to report more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Friday, which would far exceed the previous single-day high, which was 708 on Thursday.
Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang said he expected the massive surge. County health officials typically have publicly reported daily case updates a day or several days behind the actual report date of the case. Health officials, in essence, can see a potential surge coming from culling the data from day to day.
UT Southwestern Medical Center predicted such surges in multiple studies of the data in North Texas, the first coming on May 15 and the latest on June 22. Both predicted dire pandemic spread if more strict measures weren’t adopted. The latest study predicted 500 new cases a day by August and more than 900 a day by November if the social distancing strategies remained at the then-63% effective rate.
The projections worsened if the effective rate lowers and improved if the rate increases. For example, the study shows if the effective prevention rate improves by just 2%, daily case averages would eventually fall to about 200 by November. If the effective rate was 68%, the study says new cases would be nearly nonexistent by November.
But Dallas County, which already reported 708 coronavirus cases on Thursday, appears to be on an even more alarming pace.
“We cannot have another Memorial Day over this July Fourth weekend,” Huang told WFAA/Ch. 8. “If this happens, it will really be catastrophic.”
Gov. Greg Abbott, alarmed by rising hospitalizations and surging cases, issued a statewide face mask order for all counties with at least 20 COVID-19 cases. The order goes in effect at noon Friday.
Abbott started his three-phase “Open Texas” set of executive orders on May 1, despite vocal opposition from some health officials and local leaders in the counties of Dallas, Harris, Bexar and Travis. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned leaders in those counties they had no authority to enforce residents to wear face coverings and to adhere to other social distancing measures.
“This is very, very important,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. “We’re asking you not to go to large events, to stay home as much as possible, distance 6 feet and wear that mask.”
Estimated active cases over time
Coronavirus daily active case estimates by local counties in the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex, beginning April 8, 2020. Data provided by Texas Health and Human Services.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 6:50 PM.
