Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 1.632 new cases of coronavirus on Aug. 26.
The seven-day average now sits at 1,118, which is a rate of 42.26 new daily cases per 100,000 residents, according to a county news release. The seven-day average at this time last week was 949, which is a rate of 36 new daily cases per 100,000 residents.
There have been 288,805 cases and 4,262 deaths in Dallas County since officials began data collection in March 2020. About 20% of deaths countywide have been associated with long-term care facilities.
According to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services, there were 13,932 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals as of Aug. 26, which is a nearly 24% increase from the 11,261 patients on Aug. 13.
As of Aug. 25, 19.91% of the hospital beds in Trauma Service Area E, which consists of 19 counties in North Texas including Collin and Dallas counties, were occupied by confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to the DSHS dashboard. That is a more than 175% increase from the 7.23% of hospital beds occupied by confirmed COVID-19 patients on July 25.
More than 55% of Dallas County residents age 12 and older have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Aug. 26, according to DSHS. In Collin County, that number sits at nearly 66%.
The DSHS COVID-19 vaccination dashboard shows a combined estimate of nearly 1.8 million people in the two counties are reported as being fully vaccinated. DSHS estimates show there are more than 2.8 million residents age 16 and older in Collin and Dallas counties, although vaccine appointments are not limited to county residents.
Nearly 29 million doses have been administered across Texas, and more than 13 million people have been fully vaccinated since manufacturers began shipping vials to the state in December, according to the DSHS dashboard.
The majority of the estimated population in two of the three main ZIP codes in Richardson have been fully vaccinated, according to totals from DSHS.
The 75082 ZIP code has the highest percentage of fully vaccinated residents with nearly 72%, based on the population estimate from the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau Annual Community Survey results. The 75080 ZIP code has the lowest percentage of fully vaccinated residents with a little more than 49% of the estimated population.
“According to the most recent UT Southwestern projections, given the current rate of vaccination in Dallas County, we will most likely not vaccinate every willing and eligible person until next year,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a statement Aug. 26. “Along with masking, the vaccine is a critically important tool we have for curbing the spread and impact of COVID-19 in our community.”
In Richardson ISD, 276 students and 87 employees have been diagnosed since Aug. 2, according to the district’s dashboard, which was reactivated for the current school year. Of cases confirmed in RISD, 162 students and 34 employees still had the virus as of Aug. 26
In Plano ISD, 274 students and 77 employees have been diagnosed with the virus this school year. PISD's dashboard for the 2021-22 school year launched Aug. 22 and is scheduled to be updated on Tuesdays, when school is in session, with data from the previous week.
Dallas County residents can register for the COVID-19 vaccine with Dallas County Health and Human Services here. Collin County Health Care Services announced on July 27 the creation of mobile vaccination teams. Residents can request appointments for the free shots through the service. According to a city of Richardson spokesperson, the city is not involved in vaccine distribution.
Dallas County Health and Human Services reported more than 500,000 vaccinations have been administered at the Fair Park mega vaccine clinic since the site began operations Jan. 11.
Collin County announced in August 2020 that it would no longer report city-specific information. The city of Richardson does not regularly report its own case numbers; however, Dallas County’s COVID-19 analytics dashboard shows there have been more than 8,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in that county’s portion of Richardson.
