Collin County continues to see residents testing positive for the coronavirus and experiencing serious effects from COVID-19 while McKinney has ceased tracking cases of the virus.
Because of “fluctuations” in the numbers of active cases, McKinney spokeswoman Denise Lessard said the decision was made to take the dashboard offline and to direct residents to the statewide database, which includes Collin County numbers.
Officials have attributed 36 deaths in McKinney to the coronavirus, but that number was frozen a year ago on Sept. 3, 2020, when the DSHS stopped providing a city-specific number. The state dashboard is reporting 110,803 cases and 1,201 deaths for Collin County.
The new omicron variant of the coronavirus was detected in North Texas just days after Texas’ first omicron case was identified in the Houston area.
The omicron variant, first detected in South Africa, appears to have more than 30 mutations in the coronavirus’ spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people. U.S. health officials are urging unvaccinated Americans to get their shots and eligible adults to get booster shots.
Vaccines against the coronavirus became available on March 29 for all Texas adults. Federal regulators on Nov. 2 cleared the final regulatory hurdle in approving pediatric COVID-19 shots, giving the OK for thousands of North Texas children to be protected from the novel coronavirus. The state shares information about when and where Texas residents can get a vaccine.
Coronavirus cases
| McKinney | Change since last week | Collin County | Change since 12/24 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confirmed cases | 19,848 (number last provided Nov. 19) | — | 113,420 | +2,617 |
| Active | 120 (number last provided Nov. 19) | — | 5,996 | +2,728 |
| Recovered | 19,728 (number last provided Nov. 19) | — | 133,833 | +1,125 |
| Deaths | 36 (Number last provided by Texas DSHS on Sept. 3, 2020) | — | 1,217 | +16 |
Recovery
Both McKinney and Collin County have programs to help businesses recover from expenses they’ve taken on during the coronavirus pandemic.
- City officials launched the McKinney Strong grant program, loaning small businesses up to $1,500 if they meet certain requirements.
- Collin County has received funding from the federal government which it plans to allocate to recovery.
More information can be found at the city’s coronavirus website.
