Five more people have died in Tarrant County after contracting COVID-19, according to the Tarrant County Public Health Department who also confirmed an additional 472 recoveries and 520 new cases Thursday.
The latest cases bring the total number of infections in Tarrant County to 16,700 since testing began in March.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said Monday he expected to see high numbers in the days after the holiday weekend as labs get back on track but that he was encouraged by the number of people wearing face masks in public.
"I see a lot more people wearing masks, and that's encouraging to me because up until the governor put the order out on Thursday, and I put out out the order the previous Thursday, we just weren't seeing folks, asked them and begged them to wear the masks and they just didn't do it," Whitley said.
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The new 7-day average through Thursday is 468 cases per day; last Thursday the 7-day average was 437 new cases per day.
The increase in cases comes as the state's positivity rate, the percentage of people testing positive for the virus, has been sustained well over 10% for more than two weeks and grew to just above 15% on Wednesday. An increase in the positivity rate indicates an increase in the spread of the virus, not an increase in testing for the virus.
With five new deaths also being reported, the number of fatalities in the county related to COVID-19 is now at 254. The latest victims include a woman in her 60s, a man in his 70s, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 40s, all from Fort Worth, and a man in his 50s from Arlington. All had underlying health conditions.
The county is also reporting 472 recoveries Thursday, bringing the total number of survivors to 7,490. There are currently 8,951 active, known cases in the county.
Of the county's cases, 67% of those who have died were over the age of 65. Those aged 25 to 44 make up the largest percentage of people with COVID-19 at 39%.
As of Thursday, the county reported: 1,710 available hospital beds, 23 more than Wednesday; 395 available ventilators, 37 fewer than reported Wednesday; of the 8,951 active cases, 580 of those people are hospitalized, 55 fewer than were hospitalized on Wednesday.
