The Tarrant County Public Health Department confirms 5,991 new cases of COVID-19 Monday along with another 18 new deaths. Through Sunday, TCPH is also reporting nearly 1,200 people are hospitalized in the county with the virus and that the ICU occupancy rate is at 96%.
In the last seven days, the county has announced 11,410 new cases of the virus or an average of 1,428 per day. The county health department did not report COVID-19 case data Dec 24-26. Of the 5,991 additional cases reported Monday, data from the county health department indicates there are 5,441 more confirmed cases than the most recent report and 550 more probable cases.
The latest 18 victims included two women from Richland Hills in their 90s, a man from Westworth Village in his 90s, a woman from Fort Worth in her 80s, a man from Hurst in his 80s, a man from Bedford in his 80s, a woman from Richland Hills in her 80s, a woman from Arlington in her 80s, a man from Haltom City in his 80s, a woman from Richland Hills in her 70s, a man and woman from Fort Worth in their 70s, a man from Bedford in his 70s, a woman from Richland Hills in her 70s, a man from Arlington in his 70s, a woman from Fort Worth in her 60s, a man from Arlington in his 50s and woman from Fort Worth in her 50s. Five of the deceased had unknown underlying health conditions, while the others had underlying 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 125,947 confirmed cases of the virus and 18,054 probable cases for a total of 144,001 cases.
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The health department reported through Sunday 1,175 COVID-19 patients were occupying hospital beds in the county which accounts for nearly 26% of county capacity. TCPH reported 82% of beds are occupied in the county and 96% of ICU beds are occupied in the county.
The county is also reporting another 4,420 estimated recoveries, bringing the total number of survivors to 105,531. There are currently an estimated 37,045 active cases in the county, the most of any North Texas county.
With 1,425 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.
