Tarrant County officials
also announced 14 additional cases, while Denton County added 15.
By Tom Steele 10:38 AM on Mar 24, 2020 — Updated at 10:06 PM
on Mar 24, 2020 Updated
at 10 p.m.: Revised to include
Collin County’s new cases.
Dallas County
reported 14 more infections with the new coronavirus Tuesday, bringing its
total to 169. It was the fewest new cases in six days.
The county also
reported its fifth death from COVID-19, a Dallas woman in her 70s who had
high-risk chronic health conditions.
Of the cases reported
so far, 36% are among people 18 to 40 years old, 36% among people 41 to 60, and
28% among people 61 and older. One patient is a teenager. About 63% of Dallas
County patients are male and 37% are female.
The city of Dallas
has 103 cases — 61% of the county’s total. Irving, with 11 cases, is the only
other city with more than 10.
Nearly two-thirds of
the Dallas County patients have not been hospitalized. Of the 61 patients who
have been, about two-thirds are older than 60 or have a high-risk chronic
health condition, officials said.
The county is now under a shelter-in-place
order,
which requires residents to stay at home unless they are working essential jobs
or running certain errands.
Dallas County has
ramped up its ability to test for the virus with two drive-through testing
sites, at the American Airlines Center near downtown Dallas and the Ellis Davis
Field House in the Red Bird area. They opened over the weekend and can process
a total of several thousand tests per week.
Although the sites
were initially for the elderly, first responders, health care workers and DART
bus drivers, those restrictions have been lifted. Anyone — not only Dallas
County residents — can be tested if they have three specific symptoms: a cough,
shortness of breath and a fever of 99.6 degrees or higher.
Both sites closed
early after reaching their testing limit for the day Tuesday — American Airlines
Center shortly before 3 p.m. and Ellis Davis Field House about 6 p.m. Both
sites will reopen Wednesday morning.
The city of Dallas
said the limit is 250 tests per site per day, and County Judge Clay Jenkins
said at a news conference Tuesday evening that federal authorities had
continued to reduce the number of tests allotted to the sites in large part
because of the government’s limited capacity to process the tests.
Tuesday evening,
Dallas city officials announced they would close city dog parks and all park
amenities such as restrooms, open-play tennis courts, soccer fields, basketball
courts and water fountains in an aim to maintain social distancing.
“Unfortunately, we
cannot allow the risk of further transmission,” said John D. Jenkins, interim
director of the city’s parks and recreation department. “These recreational
activities allow for individuals to gather and involve close contact and
touching of a surface that may be a source of contamination. This is the last
measure we can take to implement additional social distancing
requirements."
Trails and parks will
remain open, officials said, but only nonrestricted turf and greenspace areas
will be available for use.
While recognizing the
mental and physical value of outdoor exercise and fresh air, officials urge
city residents to stay home and to practice social-distancing requirements of
six feet between people while at the parks. Park rangers will monitor areas to
ensure compliance.
Tarrant
County
Officials in Tarrant
County reported 14 more COVID-19 cases Tuesday, raising the county’s total to
71.
One person has died,
and three have recovered.
About one-third of
the cases are in Fort Worth, and 20% are in Arlington. The most common source
of transmission has been travel, officials say.
Two employees and two
residents of the Texas Masonic Retirement Center have tested positive for the
virus in the days since the March 15 death of resident
Patrick James, who had COVID-19, the center said Monday evening.
Gov. Greg Abbott said
everyone who lives and works at the senior-living home would be tested, and the
center said 210 people had tested negative.
Collin
County
Officials in Collin
County reported eight new cases on Tuesday night.
The new cases a
54-year-old man, 61-year-old woman and 63-year-old woman from Allen; a
41-year-old Frisco man; a 27-year-old McKinney man; a 35-year-old woman and
42-year-old man from Melissa; and a 77-year-old Richardson woman.
None of the new
patients has required hospitalization, county officials said.
The county’s 53
coronavirus cases include one death and eight patients who have recovered.
Denton
County
Denton County
announced 15 new positive coronavirus tests Tuesday.
The county has now 51
confirmed COVID-19 patients, 15 of whom have required hospitalization. Ten of
the cases are in people in their 20s, and six are in people in their 30s.
Two new cases were
reported among residents at the Denton State
Supported Living Center, which had reported four cases
Saturday. The center — the only such state facility in North Texas — serves
people with developmental and intellectual disabilities who have behavioral
problems or are medically fragile.
TSA
screener’s test
The TSA said Tuesday
afternoon that it had inaccurately reported that a screening officer at DFW
International Airport had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Earlier in the day,
the worker was included on the agency’s list of employees who had a positive COVID-19
test result. But an agency spokeswoman said that the screener’s test
was still pending and that the list had been updated incorrectly.
The TSA says 26
screening employees and seven other workers who have limited public interaction
have tested positive nationwide in the last two weeks.
“TSA is working with
the CDC and state and local health departments to monitor local situations as
well as the health and safety of our employees and the traveling public,” the
agency said in a written statement.
Inmate
tests positive
A man who is serving
time in a state jail has tested positive for COVID-19, the first confirmed case
in a Texas inmate.
The 37-year-old, who
is incarcerated at a facility in Harris County, has been hospitalized since he
complained of a cough and shortness of breath Saturday, according to the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice. He was in good condition Tuesday.
Inmates and staff
members who had contact with the man were “being medically restricted per
disease protocol," the department said in a news release.
Staff writers Kyle Arnold and
Nic Garcia contributed to this report.
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