Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins announced late Friday that the county had increased its coronavirus threat level to orange with immediate effect in response to a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
The change, which Jenkins announced on Twitter just before 10 p.m. Friday, means there is a moderate risk of COVID-19 transmission. Drive-through, curbside, delivery service, and take-away are recommended. Eating indoors in restaurants is discouraged but allowed as county guidelines require social distancing and masks
The county’s guidelines also recommend avoiding unnecessary travel, limiting outdoor gatherings to under 10 people, and attending entertainment events only after COVID-19 security measures have been taken.
Jenkins said the county’s health committee unanimously decided to reset the threat level to orange in a meeting held Friday night.
The change comes as the pace of vaccinations has slowed and the highly contagious Delta variant of the disease has gained prominence in new cases.
Dr. Philip Huang, the county’s public health director, told the Dallas Morning News Tuesday that the threat level could still be increased as the committee reviewed the county’s health records.
The last time Dallas County changed its threat level was in mid-June when it was downgraded to yellow – the lowest level the county has had since the threat tier system began last year.
On Monday, Dallas County reported 406 new COVID-19 cases – the county’s highest total in a day since February.
The county reported 434 new coronavirus cases and three deaths on Friday. The numbers bring the county’s total to 312,154 cases, including 267,436 confirmed and 44,718 probable. The death toll is 4,179.
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Also on Friday, the North Texas region with 19 counties broke nearly 1,000 hospital admissions, according to the state. The region has not seen such a high number of hospital admissions since March 9.
The average number of new daily cases in the county over the past two weeks is 304 – the highest number since March 19. In the previous 14 days, the average was 138.
UT Southwestern Medical Center released a new model on Wednesday that says that by October, North Texas will return to the case and hospital stays that have not been seen since January and last summer, when vaccination rates remain slow and the public no longer Masks and social distancing used.
According to the state, 1,316,927 people in Dallas county have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 1,124,010 people – 51.5% of the county’s eligible population ages 12 and older – have been fully vaccinated as of Friday.
The switch from Dallas County back to orange comes a day after Harris County officials did the same. Austin officials also raised their threat level on Friday.
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