DALLAS — Dallas County health officials announced 279 cases Wednesday, bringing the county total to 255,782 since tracking began in March 2020.
Of these new cases, 141 are considered probable because they came from antigen tests.
Dallas will be changing its hours of operations for vaccines at Fair Park for the rest of this week due to a decrease in people signing up to get shots, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
Those hours include:
- Thursday (8 a.m. - 5 p.m.) — Pfizer first & second shots
- Friday (8 a.m. - 5 p.m.) — Moderna first and second shots.
- Saturday (closed)
- Sunday (closed)
There were also eight new deaths in the county. These ranged in age from a Garland man in his 40s to a Balch Springs man in his 80s.
There are currently 214 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Dallas County.
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Tarrant County passes 1,000,000 administered vaccines
Tarrant County Public Health said as of Wednesday, 1,047,122 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Tarrant County.
Health officials also said there are currently 159 people hospitalized with COVID-19. There were 165 the previous day.
This is the 27th consecutive day the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has been below 200.
The COVID-19 patients make up 3% of the total hospital bed capacity. The county currently has a 14-day average of 152 hospitalizations.
Health officials reported 148 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. There have been 255,063 total cases in the county since tracking began in March 2020.
Health officials also reported one new COVID-19 death. It was a Southlake man in his 60s with underlying conditions.
Collin County hospitalizations remain below 100 for fifth consecutive day
Collin County health officials say the county currently has 76 COVID-19 hospitalizations as of Wednesday, down from 78 on Tuesday. This number has remained below 100 since April 16.
Health officials say COVID-19 patients make 3% of Collin County's total hospital bed capacity.
There were also 87 new COVID-19 cases in Collin County Wednesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. This is down from 141 on Tuesday.
Collin County is averaging 77 new COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days.
Denton County has fewer than 30 hospitalizations for 12th straight day
Denton County health officials announced there are currently 24 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county. This number has remained below 30 since April 10.
The county currently has a 14-day average of 24 hospitalizations.
Health officials also announced 58 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. There have now been 73,645 total cases since tracking began in March 2020.
There are also currently 14 ICU beds available in the county's hospitals.
COVID-19 patients currently make up 11% of the current Denton County patients in ICU beds.
As of Monday, 189,744 people in Denton County had received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 135,904 had received their second doses.
Denton County to start vaccinating homebound residents this week
Denton County will start administering COVID-19 vaccines Thursday to people who are considered homebound and unable to attend the vaccine clinics at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Denton County Public Health says there are approximately 58 people who are homebound and have registered for the vaccine.
Homebound citizens were identified as a vulnerable group that needed assistance. Fire/EMS personnel will visit each homebound person in their home, administer the vaccine and monitor the person for the designated time.
New COVID-19 variant discovered after Texas A&M student tests positive, researchers say
Scientists at the Texas A&M University Global Health Research Complex (GHRC) said they have identified a variant of the COVID-19 virus.
The newly discovered variant is called BV-1. “BV” stands for “Brazos Valley,” the seven-county region of Texas where the university is located. Researchers believe BV-1 is related to the variant first found in the United Kingdom.
“It has all the mutations that make the U.K. variant spread faster,” Texas A&M virologist Dr. Ben Neuman said. “And it has an extra mutation that makes other variants resistant to therapies and resistant to vaccination.”