81 Deaths, 1,394 New COVID-19 Cases Added Friday in Tarrant County; ICUs at 91%

Tarrant County Public Health added another 81 COVID-19 deaths Friday along with 1,394 new cases of the virus.

Of the deaths, TCPH said four are from December, 76 are from January and one is 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 81 victims included 34 people from Fort Worth; 13 from Arlington; five from unincorporated Tarrant County; four from Watauga; three each from Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Saginaw, Benbrook and Haltom City; two each from Crowley, Lake Worth and White Settlement; one each from Azle, Bedford, Colleyville, Grand Prairie, Hurst, Mansfield and Sansom Park. All 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 Friday that total hospital occupancy in county hospitals is at 88% while ICU occupancy is at 91% through Thursday. Beds occupied by COVID-19 patients account for 19% of all patients in Tarrant County and for 17.15% of all patients in TSA-E.

Tarrant County Public Health said there were 967 COVID-19 patients in county hospitals through Thursday and that the 7-day average for COVID-19 patients was at 1,041. The number of hospitalized patients remains down from the high of 1,528 patients reached Jan. 6 and is the lowest its been since mid-December.

In the last seven days, the county has announced 11,745 new and probable cases of the virus or an average of 1,678 per day. Data from the county health department indicated there were 1,201 more confirmed cases Friday than the most recent report and 193 more probable cases. To date, the county has reported 193,869 confirmed cases of the virus and 32,924 probable cases for a total of 226,793 cases.

The county is also reporting another 2,702 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 183,031.

There are currently an estimated 41,375 active cases of the virus, a drop of about 7,400 active cases since last Friday, and 2,387 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.