Of the seven COVID-19 deaths reported in Dallas County on Wednesday, one was a woman in her 20s, who had no underlying high-risk health conditions.
Since June 1, over half the county’s cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in people between the ages of 18 and 39, according to county data.
That surge is starting to affect the Parkland Health & Hospital System, said system head Fred Cerise, who sat down with Lee Cullum for the KERA television program CEO this week.
“Young people [are] getting together, gathering, big crowds, no masks — and so we’re starting to feel the impact of that now on the hospital side,” he said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, older people and people with underlying health issues are more likely to come down with a severe case of COVID-19, but it can happen to anyone, regardless of age or general well-being.
That’s clear in Dallas County, where more than two-thirds of the cases requiring hospitalizationare in people under 65, and half have no high-risk chronic health conditions.
"I think because the experience was that it was primarily affecting older people, or people with a lot of comorbidities, that younger people felt safe, but we're seeing it in young people and people without concurrent illnesses," Cerise said.
As the July Fourth weekend approaches, Cerise pointed to Memorial Day as a time when people let their guard — and their masks — down.
He said if President Trump would wear a mask in public for a month, it would make a huge difference.
"If this was a non-politicized situation, and people just listened to the science and said, 'you know, this thing is transmitted by people talking and droplets going through the air,'" he said. "If everyone wore a mask to protect their neighbors, these cases would go down dramatically.”
Cerise’s call to trust science came the day after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he’s done listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert.
The full CEO interview with Fred Cerise will stream on KERA.org and air on KERA TV later this month.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @mirandarsuarez.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
