McKinney has reported almost 1,000 new COVID-19 cases over the past week as Collin County hospitals reach record levels of patients.
Hospitalizations in Collin County due to COVID-19 peaked Jan. 4 with 575 people hospitalized that day. As of Jan. 8, 560 people are hospitalized with COVID-19. This equates to 20.73% of the total bed capacity. For nearly every day since Nov. 27, COVID-19 hospitalized patients accounted for more than 15% of the total hospital capacity in Trauma Service Area E, which consists of 19 counties in North Texas.
As of Jan. 8, 24.92% of the hospital beds in this service area were filled with confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to a dashboard provided by the city of Frisco.
Per an October executive order issued by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, municipal governments are required to tighten restrictions for most businesses if COVID-19 patients occupy 15% or more of the available hospital beds for seven consecutive days in their specific Trauma Service Area.
On Dec. 3, when Trauma Service Area E passed the 15% threshold for seven consecutive days, restaurants and most businesses were required to reduce capacity from 75% to 50%, and bars were required to close. Businesses will be allowed to increase capacity once COVID-19 hospitalizations for the area are below 15% for seven days in a row.
The number of COVID-19 fatalities in North Texas also continues to grow. Since Christmas Eve, 24 residents of Collin County have died of COVID-19, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Collin County had 5,659 active COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 8, according to state estimates. For comparison, on Nov. 5, the county's number of active cases was estimated to be 1,471. That is an increase of nearly 285%. The seven-day average of daily confirmed cases was 731 in Collin County between Jan. 1-7. The previous seven days saw an average daily confirmed case count of 498, according to the data. The latest numbers show Collin County has had 48,488 total confirmed cases so far this year.
At the city level, McKinney added 967 new cases between Jan. 1 and 7. The total number of active COVID-19 cases in McKinney was 1,010 as of Jan. 7. This is the highest number of active cases since the city reported new-low levels in September.
As of Jan. 7 in McKinney, there have been 9,011 confirmed total COVID-19 cases and 8,001 recoveries. McKinney ISD’s COVID-19 dashboard shows there are currently 14 active student cases and six active MISD staff cases.
The McKinney Office of Emergency Management launched Jan. 8 a COVID-19 daily report to share information about case numbers and vaccine distribution. In a news release, the city of McKinney stated Texas will direct most of the COVID-19 vaccine received from the federal government to large providers who can vaccinate a total of more than 100,000 people. The city of McKinney has requested an initial allocation of 10,000 doses. If received, the city intends to administer 1,000 doses per day, the release said.
“As the vaccination effort continues to expand to people who are at a greater risk of hospitalization and death, in addition to front-line health care workers, these vaccination hubs will provide people in those priority populations with identifiable sites where vaccination is occurring and a simpler way to sign-up for an appointment with each provider,” the release said.
To subscribe to McKinney's COVID-19 daily report click here.
A Collin County vaccine waitlist for people who meet the Texas Department of State Health Services Phase 1A and 1B categories can be found here. The form takes requests in the order received and lets people know where they are in line on the waitlist.
In Texas, there were 19,598 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported Jan. 8, bringing the total since March to 1.67 million, according to the state's dashboard.
Francesca D'Annunzio contributed to this report.
