DALLAS — As COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to increase in Texas, a Dallas hospital is opening another COVID ward.
Parkland Hospital opened two COVID wards last week due to the influx of patients. A third was opened this week, officials said Tuesday.
As of Tuesday morning, there were 170 active COVID-positive patients at Parkland, officials said.
In the county's last update on Dec. 31, there were 2,614 new positive cases of COVID.
Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 19 new COVID-19 deaths Tuesday.
These ranged in age from a Dallas woman in her 40s to a Garland man in his 80s.
This brings the county's confirmed COVID-19 death total to 5,565 since tracking began in March 2020.
There were also 2,422 new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday, which were cases from Dec. 31. Of the new cases, 376 are considered probable because they came from antigen tests.
There have now been 368,515 total confirmed cases since tracking began in March 2020.
Tarrant County
John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth has 145 COVID-19 patients, which is four fewer than Monday.
On Saturday, the seven-day average of positive tests was 35%, which was a record for the pandemic in Tarrant County, according to the county health department. The last spike was in January 2021 when the county's seven-day positivity rate was at 31%.
A wave of additional cases has also hit the county's two corrections facilities.
At Carswell FMC, there are 112 active positive cases of inmates and 23 cases among staff, data shows.
At the Tarrant County jail, there are 173 inmates who have recently tested positive for COVID, according to the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
Tarrant County Public Health reported there were 2,251 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday. There have been 393,911 total cases in the county since tracking began in March 2020.
Health officials also reported two new COVID-19 deaths, which were a Euless man in his 50s and a Hurst man in his 60s.
This brings the county's confirmed COVID-19 death total to 5,038 since tracking began in March 2020.
As of last Wednesday, there have been 3,105,651 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in Tarrant County, according to health officials.
Collin County
There were 1,622 new COVID-19 cases in Collin County Tuesday, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. There were 1,342 cases reported Sunday.
County health officials do not report daily case count statistics.
The county's current 14-day case count average is 588, state data shows. The record average of 708 cases happened from Dec. 31 to Jan. 13.
Collin County health officials said the county currently has 373 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday.
COVID-19 patients make up 14% of Collin County's total hospital bed capacity, according to county data.
Denton County
Denton County Public Health reported there are currently 133 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county. There were 137 on Monday.
This is the seventh day in a row hospitalizations have remained above 100. The county currently has a 14-day average of 100 hospitalizations.
There are currently five ICU beds currently available in the county's hospitals.
Health officials also reported 681 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday. There have been no cases reported since Thursday. There have now been 117,080 total cases in the county since tracking began in March 2020.
As of Monday, there are currently 208,571 people in Denton County who have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 199,720 who have received their second dose and 1,162 who have received their third dose.
Texas
On Monday, state health officials reported there are currently 7,460 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas. This is up from 7,015 the previous day.
The record-high number of hospitalizations happened on Jan. 11, when there were 14,218 patients in Texas hospitals.
The state currently has a 14-day average of 4,975 hospitalizations.
State health officials also reported 44,431 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, down from 51,481 cases Monday, which is the largest single-day total in terms of COVID-19 cases ever reported by state officials.
The state's current 14-day average is 21,602 cases. This is also a record-high for Texas.
Testing sites
Here are links to each major county's suggested testing locations, including hours and days of operations:
- Dallas County:
- Mountain View Campus, 4849 W Illinois Ave - Monday-Saturday, 7:30 am.-6 p.m. (Ends Monday, Feb. 28). More info here.
- Richland Campus, 12800 Abrams Rd- Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (Ends Monday, Feb. 28). More info here.
- Westside Baptist Church at 900 Bellaire Boulevard in Lewisville Tuesday, Jan. 4 and Thursday, Jan 6.
- Uplift Williams at 1750 Viceroy Drive in Dallas on Tuesday, Jan. 4 from 2-4 p.m.
- Tarrant County
- Uplift Grand at 300 E. Church Street in Grand Prairie on Tuesday, Jan. 4 from 2-4 p.m.
- Uplift Mighty at 3700 Mighty Mite Drive in Fort Worth on Tuesday, Jan. 4 from 2-4 p.m.
- Denton County
- Collin County
- Frisco: Nomi Health will be open for COVID-19 antigen and PCR tests, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. this week, Monday through Sunday at the Toyota Stadium (Corolla Lot) at 9200 World Cup Way.
Helping Hands, Open Hearts
Dallas-based nonprofit Helping Hands, Open Hearts will stop accepting clothing donations, such as clothing, shoes, linen, etc. Due to the projected surges of COVID omicron cases and Dallas County's red level of transmission, all events will be halted on a weekly basis, except for Wall of Love.
"We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. The safety of our volunteers and those we serve come first. Thank you for your support and understanding," they said in a statement.