15 Deaths, 1,663 New COVID-19 Cases Added Thursday in Tarrant County; ICUs at 93%

Tarrant County Public Health added another 15 COVID-19 deaths Thursday along with 1,663 new cases of the virus.

The latest 15 victims include a man from Fort Worth in his 80s, a woman and a man from Arlington in their 70s, a woman from Mansfield in her 70s, three women and two men from Fort Worth in their 70s, a woman from Richland Hills in her 70s, a woman from Keller in her 70s, a woman from Saginaw in her 60s, a man from Fort Worth in his 60s, a woman from Arlington in her 60s, and a woman from Saginaw in her 30s.

All but two had underlying health conditions.

Want to Get on a Vaccine Waitlist?

County health departments have launched waitlists for adults 16 years old and over.

You can register to recieve the vaccination in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties. Links are below:

Waitlist Links: Collin - Search Waitlist | Dallas | Denton | Tarrant

You do not need to be a resident of the county to register for a COVID-19 vaccine in that county -- registration is open to anyone in Texas. For those without internet access, Tarrant County is also taking registrations by phone at 817-248-6299. In Dallas County, call the DCHHS vaccine hotline at 1-855-IMMUNE9 (1-855-466-8639). In Denton County, call 940-349-2585.

For a more detailed breakdown of who is included in each priority group in Texas, see this page from the Texas DSHS.

TCPH said Monday, Feb. 1, 160,141 doses of the vaccine had been administered in Tarrant County including 149,904 to Tarrant County residents and 10,237 to residents of other counties. TCPH said approximately 6% of the Tarrant County population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and that .8% have received two doses.

This week providers in the county received more than 27,000 first dose vaccines. To get on the vaccine waitlist, click the link in the box above.

Tarrant County is also reporting Thursday that total hospital occupancy in county hospitals is at 88% while ICU occupancy is at 93% through Wednesday. Beds occupied by COVID-19 patients account for 20% of all patients in Tarrant County and for 18.11% of all patients in TSA-E.

Tarrant County Public Health said there were 1,030 COVID-19 patients in county hospitals through Wednesday and that the 7-day average for COVID-19 patients was at 1,071. The number of hospitalized patients remains down from the high of 1,528 patients reached Jan. 6 and has been steadily declining for more than nearly two weeks.

In the last seven days, the county has announced 11,788 new and probable cases of the virus or an average of 1,684 per day. Data from the county health department indicated there were 1,301 more confirmed cases Thursday than the most recent report and 362 more probable cases. To date, the county has reported 192,668 confirmed cases of the virus and 32,731 probable cases for a total of 225,399 cases.

The county is also reporting another 3,092 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 180,329.

There are currently an estimated 42,764 active cases of the virus, the most of any North Texas county, and 2,306 deaths from the virus in the county since March 2020.

Tarrant County, which has extended its mask mandate until Feb. 28, 2021, began reporting both probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in August 2020 at the request of the state health department. Probable cases, the county said, account for a variety of real-world situations and could highlight cases in the community that may otherwise go unreported.

COVID-19 causes a respiratory illness with cough, fever and shortness of breath and may lead to bronchitis, severe pneumonia or even death. For more information go to coronavirus.tarrantcounty.com or call the Tarrant County Public Health information line, 817-248-6299, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.