Frisco reached its highest count of active COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to city data.
On Aug. 17, the city of Frisco reported that there were 520 active cases of the virus. As of Aug. 19, the active case count was at 509, and there were 132 recoveries in the last two weeks. Collin County recently added a disclaimer to its COVID-19 dashboard that says the county does not have confidence in the accuracy of the data currently being provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services. County commissioners decided on the disclaimer during a discussion Aug. 17 about the backlog of coronavirus test results submitted by several commercial laboratories last week to DSHS.
As the backlogged results are added to the electronic reporting system, some counties are receiving notification that positive results of the virus that were previously diagnosed but not reported to the local health department at the time the test was completed. As a result, statewide confirmed case counts and some county case counts have recently included some older cases.
"Collin County chose to have the state take over its COVID-19 case investigations and contact tracing and to use DSHS data for its public reporting," DSHS officials said in an emailed statement. "Since that transition in June, DSHS has been providing the most complete data available each day. As with all COVID-19 data, it is subject to change as more information comes in."
Among the ZIP codes in Frisco, the 75035 ZIP code had the greatest increase in confirmed cases with 146 between Aug. 13-19. That brings the total number of cases reported in that ZIP code since early March to 523.
The ZIP code with the second-highest number of added cases in the past week is 75034, which reported 69 additional cases between Aug. 13-19. The total for 75034 is 388 cases.
The 75033 ZIP code added 23 cases between Aug. 13-19, and the 75036 ZIP code added 13 cases. Data shows the 20-29 age group in both Collin and Denton counties has had the highest number of total COVID-19 cases, but the age group is closely followed by those ages 30-39 and ages 40-49. In addition, the data shows two deaths in Collin County and 17 in Denton County in the past seven days. The total number of deaths since tracking began in March is 95 for Collin County and 90 for Denton County.
Among the key indicators being watched by experts is the number of hospitalizations. Collin County reported 117 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Aug. 19, and Denton County reported 49. That number has generally fluctuated in both counties in recent days but has decreased in both counties since the beginning of the month. Collin County has a hospital bed capacity of 2,702. Denton County is reporting 223 available hospital beds out of 811, 27 available intensive care unit beds out of 104 and 218 available ventilators out of 303 as of Aug. 19.
Statewide, the number of patients who have tested positive with COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized is 5,974 as of Aug. 19. That compares with 7,028 patients who were hospitalized and had COVID-19 a week ago.
Other key indicators being watched by experts is the state’s positivity rate, which hit a record high in Texas on Aug. 11 with a rate of 24.5%. The rate is averaged over the previous seven days and calculates the ratio of positive new cases compared with the number of tests. Gov. Greg Abbott has previously said that a rate of 10% or more is cause for concern. On Aug. 18, the rate was 10.81%. Here is a look at the rate since early April.
