5-year-old boy among 9 new COVID-19 deaths reported in Dallas County Friday

DALLAS - A 5-year-old boy was among the nine new COVID-19 deaths reported in Dallas County on Friday.

Health officials said the boy did have underlying health conditions.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said this is the first Dallas County pre-teen who has died from COVID-19.

He also said there have been more than 1,450 children under age 18 who have tested positive for the coronavirus this month.

Jenkins reminded parents that it’s “imperative” for children to be like everyone else and follow social distancing protocols to stay safe.

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Along with the nine new deaths, Dallas County reported 659 new COVID-19 cases on Friday.

This was the fourth day in a row Dallas County reported less than 1,000 new cases.

This brings the county’s totals to 44,746 cases and 586 deaths from the coronavirus.

Jenkins credited the mask order with the recent downward trend in cases, but added that “does not mean that we can afford to relax what we’ve been doing.”