Dallas County has confirmed 84 additional cases of the coronavirus, bringing the countywide total to 2,512, according to April 20 press release.

Over Saturday and Sunday, the county reported 238 additional cases. Monday's decline is due in part to the closure of some private labs on Sundays.

"We continue to scrap and claw for more testing, and you must continue to exercise good personal responsibility decisions, limit essential business trips and wear a cloth covering when you go to essential businesses," County Judge Clay Jenkins said in the release.

The majority of patients requiring hospitalization have been over age 60 or have had at least one known high-risk health condition, according to the county. Of those who have died, more than a third have been associated with a long-term care facility.

Jenkins issued a statement April 17 on Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to reopen the Texas economy. He said county judges in North Texas have been meeting virtually with health care experts to strategize a phase-in approach.


“We must be fully committed to following the science so we minimize the risk of a second wave of COVID19 that could force us backwards,” Jenkins said in the statement.

Loosening restrictions on some surgeries and allowing retailers to provide to-go service will likely be included in the first wave of relaxed COVID-19 restrictions, Jenkins said. Other businesses, such as movie theaters and restaurants, will remain closed for the time being, he added.

“None of this means that on April 30, 2020, this will all be over and [the] 'Safer At Home' [order] will end,” he said. “Rather, it means we can open the first group of businesses supported by testing and the tracing of positive cases. After watching that first group to measure its effect on public health (probably two weeks) and if successful, open the next grouping.”

Dallas County's daily case count reports can be found at this link.