The combined number of active COVID-19 cases reported by Collin and Denton counties, which encompass Frisco, decreased slightly from the week prior.
On Sept. 11, the counties reported a combined total of 2,170 active COVID-19 cases: 1,538 in Denton County and 632 in Collin County. On Sept. 3, the combined active case total was 2,433. The city of Frisco is no longer providing an online public health awareness dashboard tracking COVID-19 data in Frisco after a council decision Sept. 1 during a work session.
Collin County added a disclaimer to its COVID-19 dashboard Aug. 18 that says the county lacks confidence in the data currently being provided by the state health department. The county revised the disclaimer Aug. 24 to acknowledge the DSHS is working to make data as accurate as possible.
County Judge Chris Hill said the DSHS was expected to set up a Collin County work group Aug. 25 that will be committed to rectifying the county’s backlog of cases. Hill said the work group will be checking whether patients currently classified as active cases of COVID-19 have been symptom free for 10 days so they can be reclassified as recovered. If the group is unable to reach a patient after three attempts, they will be reclassified as recovered, he said.
In the Frisco ZIP codes that fall in both Collin and Denton counties, the 75035 ZIP code had the highest number of total cases with 655 from March to Sept. 11. ZIP code data for Collin County had been unavailable in recent weeks.
The 75034 ZIP code as a total of 548 cases, the 75033 has 421 cases and 75036 has 180 cases as of Sept. 11. Data shows the 20-29 age group in Collin and Denton counties has had the highest number of total COVID-19 cases, but that age group is followed by those ages 30-39 and ages 40-49. Data shows seven deaths in Collin County and four in Denton County in the past seven days. The total number of deaths since tracking began in March is 122 for Collin County and 105 for Denton County.
Among the key indicators being watched by experts is the number of hospitalizations. Collin County reported 78 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Sept. 11, and Denton County reported 38. That number has fluctuated in Denton County and generally decreased in Collin County in the last 10 days. Collin County has a hospital bed capacity of 2,702. Denton County is reporting 282 available hospital beds out of 824, 36 available intensive care unit beds out of 94 and 208 available ventilators out of 282 as of Sept. 11.
Statewide, the number of patients who have tested positive with COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized is 3,465 as of Sept. 11. That compares with 4,075 patients who were hospitalized and had COVID-19 on Sept. 3.
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 Sept. 10, the rate was 6.90%. Here is a look at the rate since early April.
