Dallas County reported more than 3,500 new COVID-19 infections over the weekend

Dallas County reported more than 3,500 new coronavirus infections over the weekend.

Health officials reported 1,852 new cases Sunday and 1,672 were reported on Saturday, just a day after the county passed the seven-day threshold for the positivity rate imposed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Due to the increase in infections in recent weeks, Dallas County is under a code red emergency protocol.

Health specialists use the rate of hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care units and visits to the emergency room as the three key indicators as part of determining the level of risk of covid-19 and the corresponding guidelines for activities during our response to the pandemic.

The latest deaths were three Dallas men – two in their 60s and one in their 70s. Each had been seriously ill at a hospital and two of the three had underlying health problems, authorities said.

Of the new cases reported Sunday, 1,787 are confirmed and 65 are probable. The newly reported cases bring the county’s total confirmed cases to 134,677 and probable cases to 13,495. The county has recorded 1,234 confirmed deaths from covid-19 and 39 probable deaths.

Dallas County said it would later provide hospitalization data on Tuesday.