Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 33 new deaths from COVID-19. That's the second-highest single-day total since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dallas County reported 36 deaths from COVID-19 on July 29th.
The deaths include several patients in their 20's, 30's and 40's along with some elderly patients who were in long-term care facilities.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins says these cases were likely transmitted before Thanksgiving.
"Those deaths would be people getting together three weeks to a month ago," he said. "First, people get sick - and then a few of those people wind up hospitalized. A few of those people end up on the ventilator. Once they get on the ventilator, 25 to 50 percent of them don't make it. That's mostly what you're seeing here."
He is not putting the blame on the increase specifically on Halloween parties, but rather "Halloween and the time around that - not so much holiday-centric, but people letting their guard down," he said. "People seeing that bars were re-opening and saying 'I'll go to a bar'...or 'I'll start working out in the gym again'. When we saw that increased activity," he said, "that leads to more spread."
Dallas County is reporting 1,090 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today.
Denton County is reporting 716 new cases.
Tarrant County is reporting 1,536 new cases and 15 deaths.
