The combined number of active COVID-19 cases reported by Collin and Denton counties, both of which contain parts of Frisco, slightly increased in the past week.
On Oct. 15, the counties reported a combined total of 3,131 active COVID-19 cases: 2,233 in Denton County and 898 in Collin County. On Oct. 8, the combined active case total was 2,693. The city of Frisco is no longer providing an online public health awareness dashboard tracking COVID-19 data in Frisco, following 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 that 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 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 75033 ZIP code had the greatest increase of total confirmed cases between Oct. 9-15, with 72. That brings the total number of cases in that ZIP code since early March to 701.
The ZIP code with the second-highest number of added cases in the past two weeks is 75035, which reported 51 additional cases between Oct. 9-15. The total is currently 980 cases.
Between Oct. 9-15, the 75034 ZIP code added 38 cases, and the 75036 ZIP code added 19. 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, ages 40-49 and ages 0-19, respectively. Data shows six deaths in Collin County and three in Denton County in the past seven days. The total number of deaths since tracking began in March is 167 for Collin County and 116 for Denton County.
Among the key indicators being watched by experts is the number of hospitalizations. Collin County reported 142 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Oct. 15, and Denton County reported 59. In the last few weeks, that number has increased in both Collin and Denton counties. Collin County has a hospital bed capacity of 2,702. Denton County is reporting 268 available hospital beds out of 875, 39 available intensive care unit beds out of 102, and 302 available ventilators out of 385 as of Oct. 15.
Statewide, the number of patients who have tested positive with COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized is 4,263 as of Oct. 15. That compares with 3,556 patients who were hospitalized and had COVID-19 on Oct. 8.
The rate of confirmed cases takes into account population differences. In Texas, there were 27.29 confirmed cases per 1,000 people as of Oct. 15. Here are the rates per 1,000 people for the four North Texas counties as of Oct. 15. Other key indicators being watched by experts is the state’s testing 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 Oct. 14, the rate was 8.25%. Here is a look at the rate since early April.
