City of Dallas COVID-19 Update: April 21

Dear Friend —

Below are the latest updates from the City of Dallas on our COVID-19 response and some important information you are encouraged to share:

Confirmed Positive Cases of COVID-19 in North Texas

• 2,602 in Dallas County (89 are new) & 64 deaths (recovery numbers unknown)
• 1,333 in Tarrant County (84 are new) & 42 deaths (223 recovered)
• 619  in Denton County (21 are new) & 18 deaths (258 recovered)
• 570 in Collin County (26 are new) & 14 deaths (383 recovered)
• 111 in Ellis County & 4 deaths (60 recovered)
• 48 in Kaufman County (28 recovered)
• 47 in Rockwall County (3 are new) (recovery numbers unknown)

Hospital Reports

Here are the bed and ventilator capacity statistics as reported by 25 hospitals in the City of Dallas: 

• Total beds: 5,711
• Beds occupied: 2,973 (52%)
• Total ICU beds: 827
• ICU beds occupied: 478 (58%)
• Total ventilators: 942
• Ventilators in use: 296 (31%)

COVID-19 Lab Reports

As of 5:00 p.m. the City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management received reports from seven labs. Below are the numbers for today, Tuesday, April 21, 2020:

635 COVID-19 tests

94 positive

518 negative

Testing numbers from labs to date

Total tests to date by Dallas County Health and Human Services	1,575
Total tests to date private labs*	10,446
Total negative tests to date*	9,963
Total active cases	2,602
Total deaths	64

*Numbers since March 13, 2020, the date the order requiring public and private labs in Dallas to report their COVID-19 tests went into effect

Community-Based Testing Sites

The numbers reported from the two community-based testing sites for April 20 are as follows:

American Airlines Center	Ellis Davis Field House
Total number of visitors: 331	Total number of visitors: 312
Total tested: 312	Total tested: 308

311 COVID-19 Call and Service Report (SR) Data

Data Set	Value	Notes
New 311 COVID-19 Calls Received Today	52
Total 311 COVID-19 Calls Received to Date	4,078	Since March 13, 2020
New Emergency Regulations SRs Received Today (General)	543
Total Emergency Regulations SRs Received to Date (General)	16,046	Since March 17, 2020
New Emergency Regulations SRs Received Today (Parks only)	6
Total Emergency Regulations SRs Received to Date (Parks only)	428	Since March 20, 2020

City Operations

• The COVID-19 Community-Based Testing Sites have expanded their testing criteria once again to allow testing for more people. Criteria now includes no symptoms required for first responders, DART drivers, healthcare workers, grocery store and essential retail store workers beginning April 20.
• Graphics are available with the new testing criteria for you to share: English and Spanish.
• Dallas Park and Recreation has created alphabetical guidelines to ease congestion on the Katy Trail. Starting Thursday access to the Katy Trail Thursday through Sunday, will depend on your last name. Visitors with last names starting with A-L are asked to use the Katy Trail only on Thursday and Saturday. Last names starting with M-Z are asked to use the trail Friday and Sunday.
• The Dallas Police Department confirmed a 12^th Officer tested positive for COVID-19. The officer is currently under a 14-day quarantine. The specific area where the officer worked will be sprayed and sanitized by a professional contractor and the officer’s vehicle will be professionally cleaned. This is the update from the police Chief with additional information.
• Please view the refreshed COVID-19 Regional Dashboard by clicking here. In addition to the statistics already on the dashboard, data points on emergency regulations, hospital capacity, lab tests, etc. have been incorporated into the dashboard for you to view at your convenience. Each tab in the Dashboard allows you to filter by date. This is a graphic in English and Spanish for you to promote the use of the dashboard. 
• The Dallas Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) will offer day services for those experiencing homelessness starting Wednesday, April 22. City staff started relocating people experiencing homelessness from the Dallas Central Library to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (KBHCC) rear parking lot today, Tuesday, April 21.
• Day operations at KBHCC will be offered 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include distribution of meals, onsite case managers to enter clients into the homeless management information system (HMIS) and provided case management services to address their housing and planning needs.
• The Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) continues their operations of a temporary, overnight shelter at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (KBHCC). Last night the KBHCC housed 340 overnight guests.
• OHS is also utilizing hotel rooms to house persons in need of quarantine or persons on the “priority housing” list. Last night 103 people received shelter at local hotels.
• The privately-operated shelter, Dallas Life, has had at least 41 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The shelter has closed and plans to re-open after a thorough cleaning of their facility. Their 164 guests remain at a local hotel provided by the Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS). There have been no positive cases of COVID-19 at the City operated shelter.
• These are the latest stay-at-home frequently asked questions (FAQ) documents produced by the City in English and Spanish.
• I received word from Walgreens that a new 15-minute drive-thru COVID-19 testing site that will be located at 2060 S. Buckner Blvd., Dallas, TX 75217 will go live this Friday. I will share more details as soon as they become available.

Updates from Dallas County

• The Dallas County Commissioners voted to extend the stay at home order through May 15.
• Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) reported 90 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total case count in Dallas County to 2,602.
• DCHHS also reported four additional deaths, bringing the total to 64 to date. Their ages ranged from 50s through 90s. 
• Please see this summary report for more information. The report contains race/ethnicity information on the confirmed tests and deaths and important information comparing influenza ICU admissions and hospitalizations and COVID-19 ICU admissions and hospitalizations.
• Of cases requiring hospitalization, most have been either over 60 years of age or have had at least one known high-risk chronic health condition.
• Diabetes has been an underlying high-risk health condition reported in about a third of all hospitalized patients with COVID-19. 
• Of the 64 total deaths reported to date, over a third (38%) have been associated with long-term care facilities.

Updates from Collin County

• There are 26 new cases (net) of COVID-19 in Collin County today, as of 4: p.m.
• There are 193 current cases of COVID-19 in Collin County (total cases minus recovered and deceased).
• There have been 570 total confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Collin County.
• 383 people have successfully recovered; 17 are hospitalized; 156 remain in home isolation.
• There have been 14 confirmed deaths associated with COVID-19 in Collin County.
• There have been 3,902 negative COVID-19 tests in Collin County.
• There are 845 Persons Under Monitoring (PUM) in Collin County.

Updates from Denton County

• Denton County Public Health (DCPH) has announced one additional Denton County resident has died as a result of COVID-19, bringing the total to 18 deaths due to COVID-19 in Denton County. The patient, a male resident of Lewisville in his 60s, was a previously reported hospitalized, local transmission COVID-19 case in Denton County.
• DCPH is also announcing 21 new laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Denton County. This increases the cumulative, countywide total to 619 confirmed COVID-19 cases. DCPH is also announcing 9 newly recovered COVID-19 cases within the county.
• The laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 Denton State Supported Living Center (DSSLC) resident total remains 54. The cumulative, countywide long-term care facility (LTCF) resident total remains 17. Staff who test positive for COVID-19 from DSSLC and over 100 LTCFs in Denton County are included within the totals for the town, city, unincorporated area, and/or county in which the staff person resides.
• Visit www.dentoncounty.gov/COVIDstats for local COVID-19 data including interactive heat maps, charts, and city and zip code data. Visit www.dentoncounty.gov/COVID19 for COVID-19 health and safety information.

Updates from the State

• During a press conference today, Governor Greg Abbott announced that 1,579,000 unemployment claims have been filed, with more than 1.4 billion dollars paid out for those claims. That means 80% of the eligible claims have been paid and the remaining 20% will be processed quickly due to the increased participation of legislative staffers.
• Governor Abbott announced that Texas received approval from the Department of Agriculture to allow SNAP recipients to use their benefits to buy groceries online and encouraged them to visit www.yourtexasbenefits.com to find participating retailers in their region.
• Governor Abbott announced that on Monday, April 27^th he will publicize his plan to reopen the economy.

Dallas Resident Resource Guides

There are a number of resources available to residents and businesses impacted by the emergency regulations that have been put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. The City of Dallas has created a Resident Resource Guide with information on:

• Rental assistance;
• Filing for unemployment;
• Connecting displaced workers to jobs;
• Food assistance;
• Help paying utilities (note: most utility disconnections have been halted during this time);
• Mental health resources;
• Business loan information; and
• Other key resources.

The guide has been updated and is available in both English and Spanish: 

• COVID-19 Resident Resource Guide_April 17
• COVID-19 Guia de Recursos para Residentes_17 de Abril

Dallas Regional Chamber Resources

The Dallas Regional Chamber has set up a site for additional resources for residents and businesses, including information on various state and federal programs. Check out their resource guide here and their site to connect displaced workers to employment opportunities during the pandemic here.

United Way Resource Guides

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas has put together a list of resources available to Dallas area residents in English and Spanish. Resources include the North Texas Food Bank’s open food pantries, tax filing information, and job opportunities.

Senior Source Resources

This is the link to the Senior Source’s COVID-19 resource guide. The guide includes information for seniors, including information on specific grocery store hours dedicated to seniors, and guidance for those who are caring for seniors during the pandemic. 

If you have more questions about COVID-19, including what you should do if you believe you might have the virus, check out the City’s web page, www.DallasCityHall.com/coronavirus. 

Please share this update. The official page to sign up to receive this newsletter is here. 

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please reply to this email or call my office at (214) 670-3301.

Sincerely,

Eric Johnson
Mayor
City of Dallas
[email protected]
(214) 670-3301