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COVID-19 updates: Dallas County reports record-high of 30 deaths, including two men who died at home

Dallas County officials are reporting a record high of 30 deaths on Wednesday. Five of them had no underlying health issues.

This story will be continuously updated.

Dallas County officials are reporting a record high of 30 deaths on Wednesday.

Tarrant County Public Health reported six COVID-19 deaths and 871 new cases, which is a daily record for cases in the county.

And Denton County reported its daily high record of 228 cases and a record high for positivity rate at 15.5%.

State health officials say it's also the deadliest day with 197 new deaths. The state reported 1,535 deaths in the past two weeks. There were 752 deaths in all of June.

Two of the deaths in Dallas County were found in their homes: a Dallas man in his 50s and another Dallas man who was also in his 50s. They both did not have underlying health conditions.

The deaths in Dallas County ranged in age from an Irving woman in her 40s to a Dallas woman in her 90s.

Of the 30 deaths, 22 of those who died had underlying health conditions. Five did not have underlying health conditions.

It's unclear if three of those who died did or did not have underlying conditions. They died at hospice care, long-term care facility and the third was critically ill at an area hospital.

“Unfortunately, the 30 deaths reported today are probably the delayed result that reflects the dramatic increases in new cases and hospitalizations that we have been seeing since the Memorial Day weekend," said Dr. Philip Huang, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services. "This is the largest number reported in a single day.”

Along with the deaths, there were 413 additional positive cases reported.

The county now has 43,439 positive cases of COVID-19 and 567 total deaths since tracking began in March.

"Today we see a record for deaths reported in one day but also a very good number on the number of positive cases reported," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said on Twitter. "It’s too early to say if this is the beginning of a trend or some anomaly but we were expecting good results from mask compliance after most persons visiting businesses and around others outside their home have been wearing their mask."

On Tuesday, state health officials reported 131 new deaths, bringing the total to 4,151 deaths.

Top updates for Wednesday, July 22:

Tarrant County reports 871 new cases, 6 new deaths

Tarrant County Public Health reported six COVID-19 deaths and 871 new cases, which is a daily record for cases in the county.

The county now has 310 confirmed deaths from COVID-19. There have been 23,536 cases in the county since tracking began in March.

The six additional deaths were: a man in his 80s, a man in his 50s, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 70s. They were all from Fort Worth.

The remaining deaths were a Grand Prairie woman in her 70s and a White Settlement woman in her 70s. All had underlying health conditions, officials said.

Collin County reports 4 additional deaths

Collin County health officials confirmed 135 new cases and four additional death from COVID-19 Wednesday, July 22.

Officials said the deaths include a 48-year-old man, a 79-year-old Richardson woman, an 82-year-old woman and a 93-year-old Frisco man. The number of Collin County residents who have died from COVID-19 now totals 70.

Officials said the additional positive cases brings the countywide total to 5,748 cases.

Denton County reports 228 news cases, 1 death

Denton County Public Health announced Wednesday that one more person died from COVID-19, and a record-breaking 228 new cases have been confirmed.

The county also saw a record-high positivity rate of 15.5%.

The death reported was a Denton man in his 70s.

“Please keep the family of the 46th individual who has died as result of COVID-19 in Denton County in your thoughts and prayers,” said Denton County Judge Andy Eads.

Eads is urging residents to continue to take the necessary precautions to reduce the spread of the coronavirus by wearing masks, social distance and wash your hands.

DCPH also says the 228 reported cases brings the countywide total to 5,544 confirmed cases, including 3,053 recoveries and 46 deaths.

Local children's hospitals release COVID-19 case numbers

There are four pediatric patients being treated in the ICU for coronavirus currently at Cook Children's in Fort Worth and 19 patients at Children's Health in Dallas.

At Cook Children's, there have been 10,050 tests conducted. Of those, 9,333 were negative and 717 were positive.

There have been 2,097 cases in children below 19 years old, according to state health data.

Hospital bed capacity in Dallas

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson released the following information for bed and ventilator capacity for Wednesday:

  • Total beds: 5,975
    • Beds occupied: 4,050 (68%)
  • Total ICU beds: 957
    • ICU beds occupied: 712 (47%)
  • Total ventilators: 995
    • Ventilators in use: 404 (41%)

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