No new cases of COVID-19 were reported here Thursday by area health officials but the local death toll from the virus continues to grow. The virus has now claimed the lives of 39 Dawson County residents, according to information posted on the Texas Department of State Health Services website. That is an increase of two from what the state agency was reporting a week earlier. The death figure here being reported by the South Plains Public Health District (SPPHD) also has increased. The district, whose local fatality figures have long lagged well below those reported by the state, is now reporting the deaths of ...