Tarrant County Public Health on Thursday reported 546 additional cases of COVID-19 and five additional deaths.
The deceased include a woman from Arlington in her 80s, a man and woman from Fort Worth in their 70s, a woman from Haltom City in her 60s, and a woman from Fort Worth in her 40s. All but one of the individuals had underlying health conditions.
Of the 546 additional cases reported Thursday, data from the county health department indicates there are 492 more confirmed cases than the day before and 54 more probable cases.
The county began reporting both probable and confirmed cases 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 49,637 confirmed cases of the virus and 4,201 probable cases for a total of 53,838 cases.
The county has reported a total of 685 deaths.
The county is also reporting another 289 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 45,715.
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The health department reports 352 COVID-19 patients are currently occupying hospital beds in the county.
In an effort to curb the spread of the virus, the county health department is urging those contacted for contact tracing to answer the call, saying only about 51% of people contacted have responded.
The TCPH said the growth of COVID-19 has changed the mortality of Tarrant County. In seven months, 680 residents have died of the virus. COVID-19 is now projected to be the third leading killer of our residents behind cancer and heart disease and is expected to surpass the annual total for stroke later this year.
