Updated at 9:57 p.m.: Revised to note second case in Dallas County.

Health departments in Dallas and Tarrant counties on Tuesday reported their first presumptive positive cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus, and two additional cases were confirmed in Collin County.

Dallas officials said a 77-year-old man from out of state, as well as a close local contact of that man in their 50s, were the first to test positive in Dallas County. The other case, in Tarrant County, is a resident who traveled to Kentucky for a conference last month.

In Collin County, the wife and 3-year-old child of a Frisco man in his 30s who previously tested positive were the latest positive coronavirus cases announced there Tuesday.









“There will be more," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said during a news conference on Tuesday. “The public need not panic because we have one case.”

The 77-year-old man, who has an extensive travel history, is being treated at a Dallas-area hospital, according to a Dallas County news release, but officials would not disclose where he was being cared for. The individual was immediately identified and isolated at the hospital, and appropriate personal protective equipment was worn by medical staff, the release said.

Dallas County won’t release where the man is hospitalized, in part, because officials do not want the public to panic or to deter people from visiting that facility, Jenkins said.

“If people are afraid to go to the hospital, we’ll have more people dying from missing their appointments than from this outbreak," Jenkins said.

The man was tested by Dallas County, Jenkins said in an interview. He declined to disclose how long the person had been being monitored or how many individuals the county has tested.

However, the state today confirmed that it has tested about 150 individuals but would not break down that number by geography.

In a statement, Dallas County Health Director Dr. Phil Huang said the news was expected.

“We have been watching the numbers increase across the U.S. and have been preparing for this event,” he said. "We are working with all local, regional, and statewide health authorities to monitor the situation and update the public.”

The second person had already been identified as a close contact of the out-of-state man, so the possibility of spread was expected and did not pose cause for concern, county officials said.

In the news release, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the city, county and other entities have been working daily to ensure the community’s health and urged the public to remain calm. The city manager’s office did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Right now, Dallas residents should practice preventive measures,” he said.

Dallas City Council member Jennifer Staubach Gates said council members received news of the case just before it was publicly released but haven’t received any additional information.

“This is exactly why I’ve felt so strongly about taking all precautions necessary,” said Gates, who is a licensed registered nurse. “You just never know when it’s going to happen ... or when somebody from out of town could potentially expose a lot of people.”

Gates said she’s asked for more specifics about the number of tests the county has conducted but hasn’t gotten any answers. Johnson’s spokesperson, Tristan Hallman, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday but in an earlier interview said the mayor has also asked for more information.

Hallman on Monday said city officials have discussed ways to spread the message for preventative measures, including through trusted community pastors and faith leaders.

“You can’t push the message out enough,” he said Monday. “We need to slow the spread. ... That’s the best possible scenario.”

Also on Tuesday, Tarrant county confirmed its first COVID-19 case, but did not provide specifics on the age or gender of the patient.

“We are interviewing household contacts and have identified places where this person has been and are reaching out to people possibly exposed," said Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja in a release. “The TCPH operations center is continuing to monitor the situation closely, working with the CDC, DSHS and other community partners.”





In Frisco, the two latest cases were the 3-year-old and wife of a man who had also tested positive earlier for COVID-19, Collin County Judge Chris Hill said. The man, in his late 30s, had recently traveled to California’s Silicon Valley but had returned home before he felt ill and was not contagious on the flight home, Hill said Tuesday.

The 30-year-old man was tested over the weekend for the virus after his health insurance referred him to a private lab, which gave a “presumptive positive” result.

One school-age child will be retested because the initial result was inconclusive. The other family members and a contact tested negative.

Hill said in a written statement that the family remains self-isolated at their home. The risk of transmission in Collin County is low, he said.

Health officials are notifying about 20 other people who may have come in close contact with the family after the man’s symptoms appeared, Hill said Tuesday. Those people are mostly the man’s relatives or co-workers.

They have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days from the time of their potential exposure. They’re expected to check and report their temperature twice a day to Collin County health officials.

Frisco ISD confirmed Monday that at least one child attends Tadlock Elementary School. The 3-year-old who tested positive did not attend a day care, county spokesman Tim Wyatt said.

Hill said the family’s two school-age children did not have symptoms and were not contagious when they were at school. The district is now on spring break, and the school will undergo a “special cleaning” before classes resume.

Hand-sanitizing stations will be in every Frisco ISD classroom when students return to school next week, and the district said it is working with officials in Collin and Denton counties to “contain further exposure to the community.”

Unlike Dallas and Tarrant counties, Collin County does not have a state lab to test for the new coronavirus. Instead, physicians there are encouraged to send patients to private labs such as LabCorp or Quest Diagnostics.

Doctors do not need to check with county health officials before they send patients to be tested, Hill said.

In an email Monday, a LabCorp spokeswoman said the company could not say how many COVID-19 tests had been performed or where the specimens came from.

According to Texas Department of State Health Services guidelines updated Tuesday, people should be prioritized for testing if they show symptoms of the virus — fever, coughing and shortness of breath — and have either come in contact with a confirmed coronavirus patient, have traveled to an affected area or have high-risk factors.

Health officials in East Texas also confirmed a case of coronavirus in Gregg County, about 120 miles east of Dallas. The patient had traveled in the United States and had a mild illness, according to the Northeast Texas Public Health District.

Staff writers Hayat Norimine and Marc Ramirez contributed to this report.