The Tarrant County Public Health Department confirms 1,544 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday along with another 12 new deaths.
In the last seven days, the county has announced 9,718 new cases of the virus. Of the 1,544 additional cases reported Tuesday, data from the county health department indicates there are 1,030 more confirmed cases than the most recent report and 514 more probable cases.
The latest deaths included a woman from Arlington in her 90s, a woman from Azle in her 90s, a man and woman from Fort Worth in their 80s, a woman from Sansom Park in her 80s, a man from Fort Worth in his 70s, a man from Euless in his 70s, a man from White Settlement in his 70s, a man from Forest Hill in his 60s, a man from Arlington in his 60s, a man from Euless in his 50s, and a woman from Fort Worth in her 40s. All had underlying health conditions.
Tarrant County, which extended its mask mandate until Feb. 28, 2021, last month, 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 107,721 confirmed cases of the virus and 14,722 probable cases for a total of 122,443 cases.
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The county is also reporting another 942 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 88,863. There are currently an estimated 32,554 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 919 COVID-19 patients are currently occupying hospital beds in the county on Tuesday, which accounts for about 18% of capacity; Tarrant County hospitals are operating at 81% total capacity Tuesday. TCPH data shows 336 of 731 total ventilators in use, it's not clear how many are in use by COVID-19 patients.
With 1,026 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.
