Six more people have died in Tarrant County after contracting COVID-19, according to the Tarrant County Public Health Department who also confirmed an additional 332 recoveries and 595 new cases Wednesday.
Wednesday's cases bring the total number of infections in Tarrant County to 16,180 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 Wednesday is 461 cases per day; last Wednesday the 7-day average was 443 new cases per day.
With six new deaths also being reported, the number of fatalities in the county related to COVID-19 is now at 254. The latest victims include two men in their 60s and a woman in her 90s, all from Fort Worth; a man in his 60s from Grand Prairie, a man in his 80s from Arlington and a man in his 50s, address unknown. All had underlying health conditions.
The county is also reporting 332 recoveries Wednesday, bringing the total number of survivors to 7,018. There are currently 8,908 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 Wednesday, the county reported: 1,687 available hospital beds, 155 fewer than Tuesday; 432 available ventilators, three more than reported Tuesday; of the 8,908 active cases, 635 of those people are hospitalized, 50 more than were hospitalized on Tuesday.
A county-wide executive order requiring most people to wear face-coverings while inside area businesses went into effect at 6 p.m. June 26 and will remain in effect until Aug. 4; Gov. Greg Abbott put a similar state-wide order into effect on June 2 for counties with more than 20 cases.
