Dallas County continues to report hundreds of coronavirus cases from Texas backlog
Dallas County continued to report hundreds of coroanvirus cases on Monday that were previously uncounted due to a coding error from the Texas Department of State Health Services, according to the Dallas County Health Department.
On Monday, the health department reported 1,850 additional COVID-19 cases and four deaths. The health department did not specify how many of Monday’s cases were from the backlog.
Monday’s cases bring Dallas County’s total cases to 65,278, including 829 confirmed deaths.
The four deaths reported Monday were of a woman in her 40s who lived in Dallas, a woman in her 70s who lived in Dallas, a man in his 70s who lived in Dallas and a woman in her 70s who lived in Richardson. All had underlying high risk health conditions.
Most of Monday’s reported cases came from tests administered in June that went unreported due to the coding error in the State’s electronic laboratory reporting system, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a statement.
“While at this point it is reasonable and understandable for people to be skeptical of the State’s reporting system, it is not reasonable to be skeptical of the science that is proving to be effective throughout the world in controlling the spread of COVID-19,” Jenkins said.
He said wearing a mask, 6-foot distancing, hand-washing and deferring unnecessary trips will help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
While the Texas DSHS is working to resolve the coding error, Jenkins said the county expects to receive more backlogged cases.
