The Tarrant County Public Health Department confirms 1,401 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday along with another six new deaths.
The latest victims of the virus include two men from Fort Worth in their 70s, a woman from Bedford in her 70s, a woman from Fort Worth in her 60s, a woman from Kennedale in her 60s and a man from Fort Worth in his 50s. All but one had underlying health conditions. One death was also moved from having an unknown residency to Haltom City.
In the last seven days, the county has announced 7,364 new cases of the virus. Of the additional cases reported Tuesday, data from the county health department indicates there are 1,216 more confirmed cases than the most recent report and 185 more probable cases.
Tarrant County, which extended its mask mandate until Feb. 28, 2021, last week, began reporting both probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in August 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. To date, the county has reported 90,440 confirmed cases of the virus and 11,611 probable cases for a total of 102,051 cases.
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The county is also reporting another 903 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 72,017. There are currently an estimated 29,185 active cases in the county, the most of any North Texas county.
Of the county's cases, 71% of those who have died were over the age of 65 even though they only make up 10% of the cases. Those aged 25 to 44 make up the largest percentage of people with COVID-19 at 36%.
The health department reports 896 COVID-19 patients are currently occupying hospital beds in the county on Tuesday -- about 18% of capacity and a jump of about 41 patients compared to Monday. TCPH data shows 839 ventilators on hand with 535 being available; of the 304 in use, it's not clear how many are in use by COVID-19 patients.
With 849 deaths now attributed to the virus, COVID-19 is now projected to be the third-leading killer of Tarrant County residents behind cancer and heart disease and is expected to surpass the annual total for stroke later this year.
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.
