DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – More than a year after the COVID pandemic took hold in North Texas, medical experts are optimistic that the region is on a sustainable path to recovery. But, with a lower number of COVID cases and hospitalizations, mortalities due to the pandemic has become the leading cause of death among Dallas County residents in the past year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the first death in Dallas County was recorded on March 19, 2020. By March 21, 2021, deaths in Dallas County from COVID-19 stood at 3,763. This surpassed estimated deaths due to heart disease (3,668), cancer (3,356) and strokes (1,015) during that same period.
According to Parkland, COVID-19 deaths in Dallas County saw their steepest increases starting in December. On Dec. 21, 2020, deaths due to COVID-19 stood at 1,841, but in the following three months deaths more than doubled, adding 1,922 more casualties.
“This is a sad milestone for Dallas County,” said Vikas Chowdhry, MBA, Chief Analytics and Information Officer at PCCI. “We can see that COVID-19 claimed the most lives following social gatherings and holiday travel beginning with Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year’s. Starting in December we saw a startling spike of deaths due to COVID-19 that represented more than all of the deaths in the previous months we had experienced during the pandemic. This offers a valuable lesson going forward, that we must remain vigilant to protect ourselves, our families and friends.”
But, doctors at Parkland are moving closer to the old sense normal. Both COVID units at Parkland have been closed. While the virus still poses a medical threat in the United States, the medical community is beginning to feel that increased vaccinations and lowering COVID trends are providing light at the end of the tunnel.
Listen to Clayton Neville’s story below:
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