71 Deaths, 920 New COVID-19 Cases Added Friday in Tarrant County; ICUs Drop to 92%

Tarrant County Public Health added another 71 COVID-19 deaths Friday along with 920 new cases of the virus.

Of the deaths, TCPH said two are from November, one from December, 61 are from January and seven are from February. The 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 71 victims included 25 people from Fort Worth; 16 from Arlington; five from Haltom City; three from Bedford; two from Richland Hills and White Settlement and one each from Benbrook, Colleyville, Crowley, Euless, Everman, Forest Hill, Grapevine, Haslet, Hurst, Keller, Mansfield, North Richland Hills, Saginaw, Sansom Park, Southlake and unincorporated Tarrant County. All had underlying health conditions. 

The county has reported 238 deaths in the last seven days for an average of 34 deaths per day. Since March 2020, the county has reported 2,625 COVID-19 deaths.

Tarrant County is also reporting Friday that total hospital occupancy in county hospitals is at 88% while ICU occupancy dropped 1% to 92% through Thursday. Beds occupied by COVID-19 patients account for 16% of all patients in Tarrant County and for 14.27% of all patients in TSA-E, an increase over the day before.

Tarrant County Public Health said there were 812 COVID-19 patients in county hospitals through Thursday and that the 7-day average for COVID-19 patients was at 889. The number of hospitalized patients remains down from the high of 1,528 patients reached Jan. 6 and is the lowest it's been since early December.

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.

In the last seven days, the county has announced 7,453 new and probable cases of the virus or an average of 1,064 per day. Data from the county health department indicated there were 749 more confirmed cases Friday than the most recent report and 171 more probable cases. To date, the county has reported 200,178 confirmed cases of the virus and 34,068 probable cases for a total of 234,246 cases. There are currently an estimated 33,896 active cases of the virus.

The county is also reporting another 2,151 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 197,725.

TCPH said Monday, Feb. 8 that 212,756 doses of the vaccine had been administered in Tarrant County including 200,393 (94%) to Tarrant County residents and 12,363 (6%) to residents of other counties. TCPH said approximately 8% of the Tarrant County population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and that 2% have received two doses. Vaccine numbers are updated weekly on Mondays.

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.