Tarrant County Adds 1,977 COVID-19 Cases Wednesday, 13 Deaths

The Tarrant County Public Health Department confirms 1,977 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday along with another 13 new deaths.

In the last seven days, the county has announced 10,159 new cases of the virus. Of the 1,977 additional cases reported Wednesday, data from the county health department indicates there are 1,552 more confirmed cases than the most recent report and 425 more probable cases.

The latest deaths included a woman from Fort Worth in her 90s, a woman from Benbrook in her 90s, a man from Bedford in her 70s, two men from Fort Worth in their 70s, a man from Euless in his 70s, a man from Sansom Park in his 70s, two men from Arlington in their 70s, a woman from Hurst in her 70s, two women from Fort Worth in their 60s and a man from Grand Prairie in his 50s.  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 109,273 confirmed cases of the virus and 15,147 probable cases for a total of 124,420 cases.

The county is also reporting another 2,456 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 90,377. There are currently an estimated 33,017 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 996 COVID-19 patients are currently occupying hospital beds in the county on Wednesday, which is an increase of 77 patients compared to Tuesday; Tarrant County hospitals are operating at 81% total capacity through Monday. TCPH data shows 331 of 784 total ventilators in use, it's not clear how many are in use by COVID-19 patients.

With 1,039 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.