Tarrant County Public Health added another 37 COVID-19 deaths Friday along with 1,437 new cases of the virus.
Of the deaths, TCPH said six are from December and 31 are from January. The December deaths are only now being added after receiving new death certificate data from the state health department, which the county said recently they would receive every Friday while warning of higher than average numbers.
The latest 37 victims included 20 people from Fort Worth; four from Arlington; two each from Benbrook, Haltom City and Hurst; and one each from Colleyville, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, River Oaks, Watauga, White Settlement and unincorporated Tarrant County. All of the victims 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.
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TCPH said Wednesday they have provided 47,817 COVID-19 vaccines to date. This week the county received 16,000 first dose vaccines to administer at the Arlington and Fort Worth vaccine hubs. To get on the vaccine waitlist, click the link in the box above.
Tarrant County is also reporting Friday that total hospital occupancy in county hospitals is at 90% while ICU occupancy is at 95% through Thursday. Beds occupied by COVID-19 patients account for 23% of all patients in Tarrant County and for 20.21% of all patients in TSA-E.
Tarrant County Public Health said there were 1,177 COVID-19 patients in county hospitals through Thursday and that the 7-day average for COVID-19 patients was at 1,269. The number of hospitalized patients remains down from the high of 1,528 patients reached Jan. 6 and is the lowest its been since late December.
In the last seven days, the county has announced 11,874 new and probable cases of the virus or an average of 1,696 per day. Data from the county health department indicated there were 1,028 more confirmed cases Friday than the most recent report and 409 more probable cases. To date, the county has reported 185,478 confirmed cases of the virus and 29,570 probable cases for a total of 215,048 cases.
The county is also reporting another 2,814 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 164,162.
There are currently an estimated 48,726 active cases of the virus and 2,160 deaths from the virus in the county since March 2020, the most for any North Texas county in both categories.
COVID-19 Latest
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.
