This story will be regularly updated on Dec. 6, 2020.
More than 1,850 new COVID-19 cases were reported Sunday in Dallas County, officials said, while Tarrant County officials reported 1,535 new cases.
That's nearly 3,400 new cases in the two counties alone.
In Dallas County, three more people also died from the virus, while two died in Tarrant County, according to officials.
The three Dallas County victims all lived in the city of Dallas and had been critically ill at local hospitals. They included:
- A man in his 60s who did not have any underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 60s who did have underlying high-risk health conditions.
- A man in his 70s who had underlying high-risk health conditions.
The Dallas County daily numbers are broken up by confirmed and probable cases: there were 1,787 confirmed cases and 65 probable cases reported Sunday, bringing the county's total to 134,677 cases confirmed with a PCR test since tracking began in March.
Of those who were confirmed positive, 1,234 people died.
Dallas County officials have also reported 13,495 probable cases using the antigen tests. Thirty-nine of those people died, officials said.
Tarrant County has reported a total of 110,015 cases since tracking began in March. Of those, 97,322 were confirmed cases and 12,693 were probable.
A total of 874 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Tarrant County.
Hospitalizations for North Texas region down for second day in a row, but this week was its deadliest since August
COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen slightly. For two straight days, the region has been below the 15% COVID to capacity mark.
If that continues for five days in a row, reopening can expand again to 75% and bars and reopen as judges allow.
Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen three days in a row. That hasn't happened since mid-September. However, the state averaged 180 deaths per day in the past week, its deadliest week since 8/20-8/27.
The state reported 8,681 hospitalizations from COVID-19 Sunday, as well as 92 deaths and 8,436 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Seven-day average down, but outbreaks at long-term care facilities up since last week, Dallas County officials report
The provisional seven-day average the county uses shows an average of 1,069 daily new confirmed and probable cases. That's a rate of around 40 new cases each day per 100,000 residents in Dallas County.
That's down from this time last week when the county was experiencing one of its highest case rates since the beginning of the pandemic, with the provisional seven-day average at 1,405 daily new confirmed and probable cases, or a little more than 53 new cases a day per 100,000 residents in Dallas County.
Still, the number of outbreaks at long-term care facilities across the county have hit their highest point since the pandemic began, officials said.
There are currently 97 long-term care facilities with active outbreaks. Twenty-nine people have died from these facilities in the past 30 days, including two staff members. A total of 927 cases have been reported over that time period, that includes 309 staff members. Forty-two people have needed to be hospitalized.
13 Dallas County schools report temporary closures
A number of Dallas County schools decided to stop in-person instruction at their campuses over the past week in response to COVID-19, county officials reported.
Thirteen K-12 schools temporarily closed their doors.
Since the start of November, more than 770 separate K-12 schools in the county have counted a total of 5,320 cases among students and staff, officials said. That includes 849 staff members who have tested positive.