COVID-19 Cases Trending Downward In Dallas County And Winter Storm May Have Helped
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Last week's winter storm may have been good for North Texas - at least when it comes to COVID-19.
The new numbers released by Parkland's Center for Clinical Innovation showed a dramatic decline in Dallas County cases from two weeks earlier.
It may have taken the peak of omicron and the snow and ice that forced people to stay put, for COVID-19 numbers in Dallas County to finally trend in the right direction.
"This is one of the largest decreases that we've seen week-over-week," said Steve Miff, CEO of Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, which has been tracking trends since the pandemic began.
He said the week ending February 4 saw a 47% decline in general population cases and a 55% decline in youth cases from two weeks prior.
Hospitalizations are down 64% and ICU admissions down 34%.
Miff said positivity rates are still high, but are also down by well over 50% from the peaks four weeks ago.
And while he expected a drop, he said Mother Nature helped expedite it.
"I think the freeze helped a little bit as well by having folks, at least for a couple days, take some breaks from social activities."
The decline aligns with national numbers, with a seven-day average that's more than 60% lower than January's peak.
Meanwhile, several states are now ending mask requirements in schools. Miff said vaccine rates must continue to increase and warned that more mutations are possible.
But he said cautious optimism is well-warranted.
"Hopefully within the next two weeks, we'll potentially can reach some of the pre-omicron levels, which would be fantastic, and then stabilize to whatever the new, lower baseline would be."
