The combined number of active COVID-19 cases reported by Collin and Denton counties, both of which contain parts of Frisco, increased this week from the week prior.
On Sept. 17, the counties reported a combined total of 2,502 active COVID-19 cases: 1,539 in Denton County and 963 in Collin County. On Sept. 10, the combined active case total was 2,214. 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 classified as recovered, he said.
Among the ZIP codes in Frisco, the 75035 ZIP code had the greatest increase of total confirmed cases between Sept. 11-17, with 65. That brings the total number of cases in that ZIP code since early March to 720.
The ZIP code with the second-highest number of added cases in the past week is 75034, which reported 49 additional cases between Sept. 11-17. The total is currently 597 cases.
Between Sept. 11-17, the 75033 ZIP code added 20 cases, and the 75036 ZIP code added 10. 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 closely followed by those ages 30-39 and ages 40-49. Data shows 11 deaths in Collin County and two in Denton County in the past seven days. The total number of deaths since tracking began in March is 133 for Collin County and 107 for Denton County.
Among the key indicators being watched by experts is the number of hospitalizations. Collin County reported 87 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Sept. 17, and Denton County reported 41. In the last few weeks, that number has fluctuated in Collin County and has slightly increased in Denton County. Collin County has a hospital bed capacity of 2,702. Denton County is reporting 272 available hospital beds out of 837, 33 available intensive care unit beds out of 100, and 187 available ventilators out of 292 as of Sept. 17.
Statewide, the number of patients who have tested positive with COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized is 3,246 as of Sept. 17. That compares with 3,465 patients who were hospitalized and had COVID-19 on Sept. 11.
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. 16, the rate was 7.28%. Here is a look at the rate since early April.
