NEW: Dallas County Reports 5,361 Additional Positive 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases and 1 Death

Of the 5,361 new cases we are reporting today, 5,195 came from a large volume of reports received yesterday through the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) electronic laboratory reporting system.

According to DSHS, this backlog of reports is due to coding errors and is beginning to be resolved through a recent system upgrade in their reporting system. The majority of the 5,361 cases received are from tests conducted in July.

It is expected that there will be more batches of cases missed by the State’s system being reported in the coming days. All this reinforces the importance of self-isolating and following @CDCgov guidance if you were tested and awaiting results.

This also means isolating from your family and wearing a mask inside your home to keep them from getting infected in case you are positive for #COVID19. Because of the errors, none of these 5,195 cases had been revealed to our public health team had any tracing done on them.

That’s why it’s important also if you know you’re #COVID19 positive to inform all those you’ve been in close contact with so that they can self-isolate.

A close contact is anyone that you’ve been around for more than 15 minutes, 48 hours before the onset of your symptoms through your illness, whether or not both or either of you were masked during the time you were together.

Also, I again want to reemphasize the importance of universal masking one hundred percent of the time. Others’ masks protect you and your mask protects others.

If you choose not to wear a mask in a public setting or to wear your mask with your nose exposed, you are essentially saying thank you for protecting me but my convenience and comfort is more important than me protecting you.

Please everyone wear your mask over your nose and properly fitted to your face when around people outside you home. Masking also does not do away with the requirement of six foot distancing, frequent hand washing...

...and avoiding those unnecessary trips for things other than work, essentials, and properly spaced outdoor exercise. Please avoid any activity where others are not masked one hundred percent of the time.

We can do this North Texas and you are doing a great job. It’s important for those who are masking to keep it up and for those who are not masking one hundred percent of the time to step up.

When it comes to masking, all of us must move from selfishness to community sacrifice for less people to get sick, more businesses to stay open and our kids to get back to school and activities sooner rather than later.