UT Southwestern says five cases of the "mu" variant of COVID-19 have been documented in Dallas County. Wednesday, the county reported a total of 4,877 cases and 14 deaths covering four days over the Labor Day weekend.
Among those who died was a youth between the ages of ten and 20 from Grand Prairie.
"The mu variant is very rare still at this point. The Delta variant is still the very dominant strain," says Dallas County Health Director Phil Huang. "What we are seeing is a significant proportion of school aged kids."
Huang says Dallas County has seen a 30% increase in middle and elementary school students with the virus and a 15% increase in cases among high school students.
Through Wednesday, Dallas County Health and Human Services says 67% of residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine. Of cases diagnosed in the past week, 85% were people who were not fully vaccinated.
Dallas County Health and Human Services says, of 7,254 "breakthrough cases," three percent were hospitalized; 37 died.
Through Wednesday, the Texas Department of State Health Services says hospitals across North Texas had 3,521 COVID-19 patients using 22% of capacity. At the beginning of August, hospitals in the area had just 1,597 COVID-19 patients using 9.9% of capacity.
Hospitals in the area 93 available adult ICU beds and five pediatric ICU beds.
Huang says the increase in hospitalizations and cases among younger people show the importance of prevention measures.
"I'm hearing all these stories of people about to be intubated screaming out, 'I should have gotten the vaccine,'" Huang says. "It's too late then. It's heartbreaking. We need to prevent those situations."
Across Texas, the Department of State Health Services says hospitals had 13,520 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, down from 13,790 at the beginning of September. July 1, hospitals had just 1,591 COVID-19 patients.
The agency says 58.2% of Texans 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
In Tarrant County, 56% are fully vaccinated, in Collin County, 68% are fully vaccinated, and 62% of Denton County residents are fully vaccinated.
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