Tarrant County Adds 1,850 COVID-19 Cases Monday Along With 11 Deaths

The Tarrant County Public Health Department confirms 1,850 new cases of COVID-19 Monday along with another 11 new deaths.

The latest victims of the virus include a woman from Sansom Park in her 90s, a man from Fort Worth in his 90s, a woman from Crowley in her 80s, a man and woman from Arlington in their 80s, a man from Bedford in his 80s, a man from Haltom City in his 70s, a woman from Arlington in her 70s, a woman from Fort Worth in her 60s, a woman from Azle in her 60s and a man from Fort Worth in his 50s. All had underlying health conditions.

In the last seven days, the county has announced 11,215 new cases of the virus. Of the 1,850 additional cases reported Monday, data from the county health department indicates there are 1,613 more confirmed cases than the most recent report and 237 more probable cases.

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 98,935 confirmed cases of the virus and 12,930 probable cases for a total of 111,865 cases.

The county is also reporting another 1,031 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 79,093. There are currently an estimated 31,887 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 875 COVID-19 patients are currently occupying hospital beds in the county on Monday -- about 18% of capacity and an increase of nearly 30 patients compared to Friday. TCPH data shows 312 of 758 available ventilators in use, it's not clear how many are in use by COVID-19 patients.

With 885 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.