Dallas County reported a four-day total of 9,381 new cases of coronavirus on Jan. 19.
County Judge Clay Jenkins said he believes Dallas County is closing in on the peak of the wave of COVID-19 infections from the omicron variant.
“The peak will be a welcome moment, but at peak you still have a lot of community transmission,” Jenkins said in a statement. “It will take approximately six to eight weeks after the peak for us to get the numbers down from the omicron wave. And so it will be important to continue making good decisions and wearing your mask, even after the peak is reached.”
On Jan. 18, 26.48% of North Texas hospital beds were filled with COVID-19 patients. That total is a more than 145% increase in the percentage of hospital beds in Trauma Service Area E occupied by confirmed COVID-19 patients since Dec. 29, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard. The trauma service area consists of 19 counties in North Texas, including Collin and Dallas counties.
The Dec. 29 total was 10.79% of hospital beds occupied by confirmed COVID-19 patients.
According to data from DSHS, there were 12,905 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals as of Jan. 19, which is a more than 318% increase from the 3,086 patients on Dec. 19.
There have been 415,673 confirmed cases and 5,678 deaths in Dallas County since officials began data collection in March 2020. About 15% of deaths countywide have been associated with long-term care facilities.
In Richardson ISD, 5,003 students and 1,185 employees have been diagnosed since Aug. 2, according to the district’s dashboard, which was updated Jan. 19. Of cases confirmed in RISD, 1,484 students and 383 employees still had the virus as of Jan. 19. Those totals amount to 5.23% of district students and 3.97% of staff members, according to the dashboard.
In Plano ISD, 1,721 students and 177 employees were listed with current cases, according to the district’s dashboard, which was last updated Jan. 19. Those totals amount to 3.49% of district students and 3.4% of staff members, according to the dashboard.
Nearly 72% of Dallas County residents age 5 and older have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Jan. 19, according to DSHS data. In Collin County, that number sits at nearly 80%.
The DSHS COVID-19 vaccination dashboard shows a combined estimate of nearly 2.2 million people in the two counties reported as being fully vaccinated.
The majority of the estimated population in all three of the 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 almost 82%, 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 56% of the estimated population.
Nearly 41 million doses have been administered across Texas, and more than 16.7 million people have been fully vaccinated since manufacturers began shipping vials to the state in December 2020, according to the DSHS dashboard.
COVID-19 testing continues to be available throughout North Texas. In Richardson, there are numerous test sites that offer both drive-thru and walk-in appointments through local pharmacies and clinics. An interactive map of the available testing sites in Richardson and the surrounding area can be found at this link.
COVID-19 tests are available at no cost nationwide at health centers and select pharmacies due to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, including for those who do not have insurance.
Appointments are required for most COVID-19 testing sites.
Information about the COVID-19 vaccine and where to get vaccinated is available at www.vaccines.gov. Dallas County residents can register for the COVID-19 vaccine with Dallas County Health and Human Services here. Collin County Health Care Services announced July 27 the creation of mobile vaccination teams. Residents can request appointments for the free shots. According to a city of Richardson spokesperson, the city is not involved in vaccine distribution.
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 nearly 12,100 confirmed coronavirus cases in that county’s portion of Richardson.
