Garland Woman Dies From COVID-19 While on Domestic Flight

A Garland woman with COVID-19 died while on a flight from Arizona to Texas in July, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Sunday while announcing an additional 592 cases of the disease and three deaths.

In a news release, Jenkins said they had been notified a woman in her 30s died July 25 while the plane was parked on the apron. The woman had difficulty breathing and was given oxygen but died on the jetway, Jenkins said. Further details about the case were not released due to patient privacy.

Two additional COVID-related fatalities announced Sunday included a Glenn Heights woman in her 50s who had been critically ill at a local hospital and a Dallas man in his 50s who had been critically ill at a hospital, according to the county.

All three fatalities announced Sunday had underlying high-risk health conditions.

Dallas County has reported a total of 1,085 confirmed deaths related to the coronavirus.

Of the 592 cases added Saturday, 554 are confirmed cases, and 390 came through the Texas Department of State Health Services' electronic reporting system. Thirty-eight of those 390 are considered older cases.

In addition to the confirmed cases, DCHSS also reported 38 probable cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday. The county has reported 89,987 confirmed and 4,580 probable cases of COVID-19 since March.

Jenkins expressed frustration that Gov. Greg Abbott has loosened statewide restrictions just as new cases begin to decline.

"What happens with that is people hear that, they may not be going to a bar but they think it's now safe to have friends over to watch the Cowboys game or do something else they want to do," he said. "We keep jumping the gun and it puts us back in a situation which hurts public health and businesses and schools."

The Texas Department of State Health Services has reported an estimated number of recoveries on its site and lists 80,491 for Dallas County as of Saturday, Oct. 17. Using data supplied by the state, there are an estimated 7,748 active COVID-19 cases in the county.

Of all confirmed coronavirus cases requiring hospitalization, more than two-thirds have been under 65 years old, Dallas County Health and Human Services said. Diabetes has been an underlying health condition in about one-third of all hospitalized patients, while 24% of COVID-19-related deaths have been associated with long-term care facilities.

Locations on the map are approximate county locations and are not intended to identify where any infected people live.

Case data pulled from a variety of sources including county health departments, Texas Department of State Health Services, KXAN-TV in Austin and KPRC-TV in Houston.