Dallas County Reports A Record-High In Single-Day COVID-19 Deaths Once Again, A Massive Vaccination Hub Opens At Texas Motor Speedway And More.

When we checked in at the end of last week, Dallas County had hit yet another grim milestone — a record number of single-day deaths since the pandemic began. Unfortunately, That trend continues this week, as the county is already surpassing last week’s numbers with a reported 40 deaths added to the singe-day toll on Monday.

Nationally, the Biden Administration is moving forward with sending vaccines to pharmacies across the country beginning next week. White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said on Tuesday that about 6,500 locations nationwide will receive shipments of the vaccine, although as of right now, it’s unclear which, if any, North Texas pharmacies are among them.

These updates continue to be a reminder, however, that though vaccines are slowly but surely becoming more available, their rollout won’t be an overnight silver bullet. We would be remiss not to remind you to remain masked up and keep the hand sanitizer on deck.

Here are the latest COVID-19 updates in North Texas:

  • On Tuesday, Dallas County reported 1,305 confirmed positive cases and 39 new deaths. This report raises the county’s cumulative case count to 230,395 and the death toll to 2,270. Additionally, 133 probable cases were reported for a total of 1,438.

  • According to the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council, 41 adult ICU beds were available in Dallas County as of Monday. This is nearly double the amount of beds available since we checked in on Friday — a slight increase, but you take wins where you can get them these days.

  • The 2021 Dallas St. Patrick’s Parade on Lower Greenville has been cancelled. This news comes after last year’s iteration of the parade was cancelled right when the pandemic first hit North Texas. Mark Cuban, who is a longtime supporter of the parade, made the announcement on Friday. The pandemic is giving a new meaning to Groundhog’s Day, we guess!
  • Also cancelled for the second year in a row is Fort Worth’s Mayfest Festival. The annual family-friendly event is normally host to hundreds of thousands of people, but will be passed over this year due to potential pandemic safety concerns. “At this time, a gathering as large and populous as Mayfest negates the efforts to minimize the effects of COVID-19,” organizers said in a statement. As of now, organizers do plan for the festival to return in May of 2022.
  • Mayor Eric Johnson has apologized for yet another confusing vaccine rollout. The vaccination hub at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Downtown Dallas has gotten off to a rocky start after opening last week. The city says long lines at the convention center have been caused by people showing up with unauthorized appointments. Some people have even showed up without making an appointment at all, according to officials. “If you weren’t invited to make an appointment by the City of Dallas — and you will know if you were invited by the City of Dallas — then I’m asking you to please not come,” Johnson said. For more information on vaccine registration in the city of Dallas, head here.
  • Texas Motor Speedway has been opened as a vaccine hub. The 16-lane, 131-acre Denton County racetrack opened Tuesday morning with hopes of administering 10,000 doses per day. The hub will have both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in both first and second doses available, according to the county. You can register for the vaccine in Denton County here.
  • Although vaccine doses in Dallas County have been limited, county officials are encouraging everyone to at least register. People without authorized appointments cannot receive the vaccine until they are approved, but officials are asking residents to enroll anyway so that when vaccines do become available, they can be processed for inoculation as quickly as possible.

And that does it for this latest round of updates. We’ll see you again with more of the latest on Friday.

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