There are almost 700 new COVID19 cases in a rolling seven day period said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
Hospitalizations in the area are up also. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services – more than twice as many COVID19 hospitalizations are happening now as on July 18 and more than four times as many as on July 3.
Last year, Texas was one of ten “hot zone” states where COVID19 infections were surpassing expectations.
Per Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council President Stephen Love a majority of the people hospitalized with COVID-19 are not vaccinated. He encouraged everyone to get vaccinated.
700 New COVID19 Cases
The 700 new COVID18 cases represent the highest seven day average caseload of new infections since February 2021.
Chad West lashes out after he posted on Facebook that he was on the receiving end of “several calls and messages last night from neighbors who experienced 2, 3, 4 and even 6-hour waits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center yesterday for their COVID19 vaccination appointments.”
Council Member West seemed dismayed at the Mayor, but the entire City Council has been acting as one observer noted “like a bunch of petulant children.”
This local political actist noted “if the Mayor and City Council had to rely on one another for mutual survival, they’d all be done six months ago. Every one of them is more interested in their memo or tweet to score political points than in listening and fixing problems and they are ignoring people with the experience to do help.”
Chad West Lashes Out – In Wrong Direction?
The angry Facebook post came the same day Dallas County reported 1,617 new COVID19 cases and a dozen deaths.
In late January, Dallas County Commissioner’s Court voted 3-0 with two abstentions to prioritize vaccine distribution to certain zip codes leaving black and brown citizens in other areas at the end of the line. An emergency meeting was required after the decision once the Texas Department of State Health Services reminded Dallas County of their obligations under their hub contract to serve everyone.
It was attacked by County Judge Clay Jenkins as potentially illegal and now Texas has agreed.
In a strongly worded email to Commissioners, Texas health officials said, “While we ask hub providers to ensure the vaccine reaches the hardest-hit areas and populations, solely vaccinating people who live in those areas is not in line with the agreement to be a hub provider,” wrote Imelda Garcia, an associate commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.
She continues, “If Dallas County is unable to meet these expectations, we will be forced to reduce the weekly vaccine allocation … and no longer consider it a hub provider.”
In addition to the state action at least two attorneys were preparing motions to stop the new vaccine rollout.
COVID19 Politics At 1500 Marilla
Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Johnson sent a terse memo to City Manager TC Broadnax regarding city vaccination rollout and individual council members seeking vaccine registration hubs.
The Mayor’s memo was immediately attacked as another COVID19 politics power grab by Adam Bazaldua in both personal posts and posts to the Other Side DallasFacebook group.
The two City Council colleagues have been described by another City Council member as “the two boys in the sandbox who can’t get along because neither gets enough attention” from their mother.
“They both just complain about the other and neither does his homework,” the source said.
County Judge Clay Jenkins issued a written statement saying in part: “The improving numbers, while early, are an indication that residents are renewing their strength and engaging in shared sacrifice and patriotism to keep our community and our country strong until such time as the vaccine can be widely distributed and have its effect.”
Dallas County recently announced it is counting only positive antigen tests – also known as rapid tests – as probable cases. In other notifications of results, antibody and “household” results were included.
1675 New COVID19
November Dallas County hit 1500 daily cases. These rising cases are also contributing to the nearly 1600 in Dallas Independent School District. In early November, that number was less than 800.
The rising numbers do not appear to be stopping multiple public events where attendees forgo masks though meaning numbers will continue to rise.
County Judge Clay Jenkins reported 1500 new COVID19 cases in Dallas on Monday. Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 1,517 new COVID19 cases in Dallas for a cumulative total nearing 100,000 confirmed cases, including 1,119 confirmed deaths.
For the 477 new confirmed cases, 375 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ electronic laboratory reporting system and one is from March.
The provisional seven-day average of daily new confirmed and probable cases (by date of test collection) for CDC week 43 has increased to 652 — the highest daily average of new cases since July – when Dallas was considered in the hot zone for infections.
Dallas ISD has had a significant increase in COVID19 infections also. They nearly tripled their caseload in only the first week. A provisional total of 587 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in school-aged children (5 to 17 years) during CDC week 43 – over twice the numbers of children diagnosed in this age group 4 weeks earlier (CDC week ending 9/26/2020).
Most Of 1500 New COVID19 Cases Coming From Clinics
“The large amount of cases today can be attributed to this data dump representing cases that were performed over a 15-day period,” explained Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a statement. “This is not really a backlog, but rather a bulk upload from outpatient clinics that have ramped up antigen testing this month. With the numbers that we are seeing, it is increasingly important that we wear a mask and avoid crowds. You know what to do, we just need to all do it.”
