Denton County reports 11 COVID-19 deaths in less than a week

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Denton County plummets, the county health department is still confirming several more recent deaths were caused by the novel coronavirus.

Denton County Public Health reported five COVID-19 deaths on Thursday and six on Tuesday, including residents of Justin, Lewisville, Denton, unincorporated Denton County, Carrollton and Oak Point, as well as a Roanoke man in his 40s. The countywide death toll is now at 808.

“As we announce the death of six community members due to COVID-19, please keep their families in your thoughts and prayers,” Denton County Judge Andy Eads said in a statement on Tuesday. “We hope community members will get vaccinated, as vaccination remains the best way to reduce the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and death.”

DCPH only rules a resident’s death as a COVID-19 death if it is determined that the person died as a direct result of COVID-19. Actual dates of death can be released several days to several months after the date of death, due to various reporting agencies and medical records review.

DCPH Director Dr. Matt Richardson has said COVID-19 deaths are a “lagging indicator,” because it usually takes a couple weeks to a couple months for DCPH to confirm a resident’s death as being the result of COVID-19. The 11 deaths reported since Thursday reflect patients who had the Omicron variant during the huge spike in cases this winter.

At the same time, the number of cases, hospitalizations and transmission rate are still falling quickly from the Omicron peak of 58,265 active cases on Feb. 11, down to 16,822 active cases on Thursday. Alex Reed, DCPH division manager for community health, provided universally good news about the continuing decline during Tuesday’s Denton County Commissioners Court meeting.

Click here for more information about COVID-19 vaccines in Denton County. For additional COVID-19 data including active case information by municipality, hospital capacity, and ventilator utilization, visit dentoncounty.gov/COVIDstats.

For information regarding DCPH’s upcoming testing centers, visit dentoncounty.gov/COVID19testing.