County Judge Clay Jenkins issued a statement Wednesday, Sept. 30, emphasizing the importance of guarding against the spread of the coronavirus. His suggestions include continuing to wearing masks all the time, washing hands regularly, maintaining the six-foot social distancing guidelines and avoiding unnecessary risks. He suggested avoiding indoor activities where masks are not worn 100% of the time.
Jenkins also expressed concern over case increases seen in September.
“…over the last two weeks, increased capacities at retail establishments and a letting down of the guard at functions at home, along with some outbreaks at schools (although those numbers have been manageable), and a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases in people 18-22, both in college and not in college, has led to the stop of our improvement. These increases now threaten to push us back into the sort of numbers that we saw in August if we don’t all work together to make smart decisions,” Jenkins said in the statement.
An added concern is that the instances of positive coronavirus tests in young adults ages 18-22 years have increased to 13% in September.
To date, 25% of the confirmed deaths have been associated with long-term care facilities. Diabetes continues to be an underlying health condition reported in about 33% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
As of Wednesday, Sept. 30, the State of Texas reported 748,967 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 15,711 fatalities.
Including the 249 new cases of COVID-19 reported by Dallas County Health and Human Services Wednesday, Sept. 30, the confirmed county count stands at 82,410 with 1,024 deaths. Two of those newly reported cases were from previous months.
The city of Garland has reported 7,268 cases as of Sept. 30 and 629 are currently active. There have been 6,576 recoveries and 63 deaths. Deaths by age are:
30-39 years – 3
40-49 years – 4
50-59 years – 9
60-69 years – 18
70-79 years – 15
80+ years – 14
Also as of Sept. 30, Garland ISD has reported:
23 active staff member cases
31 recovered staff members
65 active student cases
111 recovered student cases
The district announced this week that Rowlett High School has canceled its Oct. 2 football game and will reschedule the Oct. 9 game after a football player tested positive.