McKinney has reported almost 700 new cases of COVID-19 cases over the past week, down from more than 800 the week prior. The hospitalization rate in North Texas also reached a new low in 21 days, state data shows.
As of Jan. 20 the total hospital capacity in Trauma Service Area E, which consists of 19 counties in North Texas, was 22%. This figure has been trending downward since it peaked Jan. 9 at 27%, but nearly every day since Nov. 27, patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have accounted for more than 15% of total hospital capacity in this service area.
Per an October executive order issued by 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 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 occupancy from 75% to 50%, and bars were required to close. Businesses will be allowed to increase occupancy once COVID-19 hospitalizations for the area are below 15% for seven days in a row.
Hospitalizations in Collin County due to COVID-19 peaked Jan. 4 with 575 people hospitalized that day. As of Jan. 21, 507 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. This equates to about 19% of the total bed capacity, a decrease from Jan. 14, when this percentage was 20%. The number of COVID-19 fatalities in North Texas also continues to grow. Since Christmas Eve, 113 residents of Collin County have died of COVID-19, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The seven-day average of daily confirmed cases was 598 in Collin County between Jan. 16-22. The previous seven days saw an average daily confirmed case count of 664, according to the data. The latest numbers show Collin County has had 56,017 total confirmed cases since March last year. A Collin County COVID-19 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 persons know where they are in line on the waitlist.
As of Jan. 22, 1.37 million Texans have been vaccinated with at least the first dose of the vaccine, according to data on the DSHS dashboard. About 228,314 have been fully vaccinated with both doses. As of Jan. 25, about 7,500 Collin County residents aged 16 and older—an estimated 806,242—have been fully vaccinated.
At the city level, McKinney added 676 new cases between Jan. 15 and 21. The total number of active COVID-19 cases in McKinney is 837 as of Jan. 21. On Jan. 10 the city recorded 1,130 active cases, the highest number of active cases since the city reported new-low levels in September.
As of Jan. 21 in McKinney, there have been 10,546 confirmed total cases of COVID-19 and 9,709 recoveries. McKinney ISD’s COVID-19 dashboard shows there were 21 active student cases and six active MISD staff cases as of Jan. 21.
In Texas, there were 18,0370 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported Jan. 22, bringing the total since March to nearly 1.92 million, according to the state's dashboard.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct an error. The data previously conflated Collin County and Texas vaccine data.
